Cannes Lions have announced the See It Be It (SIBI) finalists for the 2020 – 2021 programme and M&C Saatchi’s Allie Steel has been selected for Australia. She will be joined by Colenso BBDO’s Ellen Fromm who was chosen from New Zealand.

In total, fifteen aspiring women, from across the world, have been selected to join the unique talent accelerator programme which will run as a virtual learning and mentoring programme in 2020 and return to the Festival in 2021.

See It Be It, in partnership with Spotify, is the Cannes Lions initiative aiming to achieve equal gender representation of creative directors and leaders across the global industry. A record-breaking number of 797 applications from 70 countries were received in 2020.

The programme is designed to accelerate women into senior creative roles and the 15 selected participants each receive a VIP Cannes Lions experience. This includes a complimentary pass, accommodation and travel to attend the Festival in 2021. The curated programme comprises one-to-one mentoring sessions, networking events, masterclasses and workshops, as well as access to some of the industry’s most influential leaders. The theme for the 2020 – 2021 See It Be It programme is Feminine Leadership.

“Women are amazing input givers, devil’s advocates and intangibility readers and all storytelling benefits from our diverse perspectives,” said Swati Bhattacharya, chief creative officer, FCBUlka, and the 2020 See It Be It Ambassador.

“Feminine leadership uses the female instinct to nurture an organisation or a department, like a mama lioness. When women suppress their female instinct, it’s like a creative hara-kiri.”

This year’s Australian finalist Allie Steel, senior copywriter, M&C Saatchi said, “I am absolutely thrilled to be part of the See It Be It program. The theme of Feminine leadership resonates with me because in my experience, the unique sensibility of female leadership can be transformative.

“I hope to be part of the next wave of those leaders. I can’t wait to soak up all the knowledge of the SIBI mentors, speakers and ambassadors as well as connect with the other women in the program.”

Cam Blackley, chief creative officer, M&C Saatchi said “I’m not surprised Allie has been recognised as a future leader by Cannes Lions and the SIBI mentors, and I’m looking forward to watching her continue to not only make a serious impact on the work but to also grow as a role model for more junior female creatives because of this honour.”

The 15 female finalists are named as followed:

Allie Steel, Senior Copywriter, M&C Saatchi, Australia

Ellen Fromm, Senior Copywriter, Colenso BBDO, New Zealand

Geetanjali Jaiswal, Independent Creative Director, India

Roxana Nita, Group Creative Director, Cheil Romania

Andrea Auz, Creative Director, Paper, Ecuador

Leticia Rodrigues, Senior Art Director, Wunderman Thompson, Brazil

Javiera Wuth, Senior Copywriter, McCann, Chile

Ana Carolina Gomez Guzman, Social Media Director, Together W/, Mexico

Rosa Guerrero Cabral, Creative Supervisor, Publicis Dominicana, Dominican Republic

Lauren Ferreira, Creative Director, Droga5, USA

Tescia Deák, Creative Director, Grey West, USA

Mica Gallino, Creative Director, JOAN Creative, USA

Rachel Chew, Creative Group Head, BLKJ, Singapore

Denise Tee, Creative Director, Wunderman Thompson, Hong Kong

Nedal Ahmed, Senior Writer, 72andSunny Amsterdam, Netherlands

The 15 women have already taken part in a mentoring scheme with Invisible Creatives, the talent platform that supports the underrepresented creative talent created by Senta Slingerland, the founder of See It Be It and Maddy Kramer, ACD Art Director, who participated in the inaugural See It Be It programme in 2014.

Offering a talent database, job board and mentorship scheme, the Mentor-at-Home initiative aims to make mentorship more accessible and is an online, speed-dating style event where five mentees are matched with five mentors.

To date, over 100 women have gained a fully-funded place on the programme and many alumni have progressed into leadership positions, won Lions awards and held positions on Cannes Lions juries. To cultivate a community and global network of support and learning, the See It Be It events series has now reached over 4000 women in countries including the US, Canada, Singapore, Nigeria, Bulgaria, UK, Australia and Pakistan. The programme will be led by Ambassador, Swati Bhattacharya, and Madonna Badger, CCO and founder of Badger & Winters, will remain the See It Be It Chair.

“See It Be It is an instrumental initiative in Cannes Lions’ response to the gender imbalance that exists within the global creative community,” commented Louise Benson, Cannes Lions festival director and VP events.

“See It The community has evolved into a global movement of women and the impact of the programme has reached far beyond the Festival week.”