London International Awards Creative Liaisons commences in May
Beginning in May and continuing through November, approximately 200 mentees will begin their Creative LIAisons Virtual Coaching journey. As part of the program, each mentee will have three one-to-one bespoke coaching sessions with three different well-known, well-awarded and well-established industry leaders from around the world.
“Challenger, cheerleader, coach, confidant. Our coaches are all of these and more to the mentees. To the 200 mentees joining this program, we urge you to make the most of your sessions. Grasp your personal sessions with both hands. It’s a rare opportunity to be mentored by not just one, but three industry greats. Push yourself (and your mentors) out of your comfort zone. Let it be your purpose to get the best out of yourself, and in time you’ll be able to pass on the lessons you’ve learnt to coming generations,” said Laurissa Levy, Creative LIAisons Director/Events Director.
This year, there are five coaches from Africa. Among the list of mentors are:
Nkanyezi Masango, Chief Creative Officer at Dentsu Creative, Johannesburg
Brian Njagi, Creative Director at Digitribe – Ogilvy Africa, Nairobi
Artwell Nwaila, Head of Creative and Ecosystems Sub Saharan Africa at Google
Ana Rocha, Executive Creative Director at VML South Africa, Cape Town
Neo Segola, Executive Creative Director at Le Pub, Johannesburg
This virtual mentoring/coaching program has become an integral part of the Creative LIAisons program. The importance of mentoring cannot be over stated. Some of the most famous people had mentors. The film director, J.J. Abrams, for instance, has always been inspired by Steven Spielberg. As a teenager, Abrams was hired by Spielberg to clean old reels and organize old Spielberg films. Over time, Spielberg came to appreciate Abrams’ passion for the craft and agreed to help him. Abrams credits this mentorship for helping him in production and opening up opportunities for him. J.J. Abrams has been called the next Spielberg.
Brian Njagi, Digitribe – Ogilvy Africa, Nairobi commented, “As a former mentee in 2019, I can only give back the LIAisons by sharing what I have learnt and showing the path to more young creatives. This year, I am proud to be back to the Creative LIAisons program as a Coach, sharing from my pot generously and putting Africa on the map.”
These mentoring/coaching sessions aim to cover all disciplines with emphasis on skill development, elevating ideas and boosting creative confidence to fast track careers. Creativity is fluid, so there are no set rules or a prescribed formula for the sessions. Each mentee and their mentors are at full liberty to design how they want to conduct each session. The end game? To hone the skills of young creatives, so they can reach their full potential and rise to greater heights.
How are mentees matched with their respective mentors?
While mentees are able to submit their wish list from the list of 200 mentors, there are a few criteria we abide by. The rule of thumb is: no mentee will be mentored/coached by someone in their own company, either locally or globally.
The focus is on the mentees – to give them greater length, breadth, height and depth with these sessions. So careful consideration is given to the mentees’ requests.
“I am thrilled to be part of Creative LIAisons this year, joining an incredible team of mentors. As a Creative LIAisons Coach, I am so energized to learn and grow alongside some of the most talented young minds out there. The program has top in class mentors and mentees, making it such a great opportunity for all involved. I can’t wait to get started and see what amazing things we can achieve together!” commented Ana Rocha, Executive Creative Director at VML South Africa.
Creative LIAisons endeavors to make matches based on interests, goals and their fields within the industry. We begin by making sure they have among their coaches at least one who is in their field of expertise. The other two can be from different backgrounds, regions and different disciplines to broaden mentees’ perspectives. Each coach has a different mentoring style based on their strengths and experience, so by being assigned three different coaches this leads to the mentees gaining valuable insight that ultimately benefits their career goals and growth.
Selection process
To be eligible for the program, mentees have to be currently working in the industry or a related business and be between the ages of 21 – 30 years old.
LIA does not directly select mentees. We leave it up to Companies and Agency Networks that support LIA to put forward candidates. Additionally, LIA collaborates with different Ad Clubs and Associations, and Trade Press by generously allocating spaces to winners of creative competitions organized by them. We want everyone to get a fair shot at a place in the virtual program. Winners from these regional competitions, selected by local creative leaders based on their creativity, will then become part of the Virtual program cohort.
To cast the net even wider, the Creative LIAisons Virtual Program does accept a certain quota of self-nominations.
View all 2024 coaches and 2024 mentees
LIA created the exclusive and sought after Creative LIAisons educational program in 2012, as a way of giving back to the industry that supports us. The entire program is funded by LIA. Our mission is to develop, educate, inspire and nurture emerging talent from around the globe. That in a nutshell is the driving purpose behind the Creative LIAisons initiative.
LIA added this virtual mentoring/coaching program in 2021, to augment the onsite Creative LIAisons program held in Las Vegas later this year. This is part of LIA’s on-going efforts to give back to the industry by supporting and nurturing the younger generation of creatives.
About LIA
London International Awards (LIA) is a Creative Awards Festival, established in 1986, by Barbara Levy, President. Barbara was the first woman to found and operate an International Awards Show honoring multiple media types. 39 years later, LIA continues to hold the unique distinction of being the only international award owned by a woman and having a full-time staff of only women.
LIA stands as a champion of the creative process, creatives themselves, and of course, great creative ideas and executions. We are proud to award the best creative work each year in all forms of media: Advertising, Design, Package Design, Data, Technology, Craft, Health, Pharma, Music, PR, Innovation, Strategy, B2B and much more.
That’s why every year, LIA invites industry leaders and trendsetters on both the creative and client side, assembling the most celebrated people for 10 days of judging in Las Vegas. To cut through the thousands of entries to get to the metal, you need the best jurors from diverse communities – not just meeting DEI standards but having true representation from across the regions, companies, networks, holding companies, independent companies to clients.
All members on our diverse global jury panels, including the Jury Presidents, judge all entries in their respective competitions with the exception to work that they personally collaborated on or was entered from their company. The LIA judging process requires that jurors are onsite for all judging from the first round through statue discussions. There is no pre-judging to narrow the entries.
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