Hong Kong – Multinational advertising and public relations company Publicis Groupe has launched L’avenir, a leadership and creative development program tailored for high-potential female creatives across its network in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Middle East and Africa (MEA) regions.
The program aims to change the gender ratio amongst its creative leaders across the region and to equip high-potential women with the skills needed for creative leadership roles.
“Globally at Publicis Groupe, more than 50% of our workforce is female and 41% of key leaders are women: we’ve made huge strides when it comes to gender representation overall. Yet industry-wide, the percentage of female Creative Directors remains comparatively low,” said Natalie Lam, chief creative officer at Publicis Groupe APAC & MEA, who is also the key driver and developer of the L’avenir program.
She added, “To lead the change, we’re launching L’avenir, a tailored creative mentorship program that will nurture high-potential female creatives in two ways: career development, and creativity development.”
Publicis Groupe APAC & MEA will be selecting high-potential mid- and senior-level creatives every year to join the L’avenir program.
“We’ll identify our top female creatives, because true diversity makes the work better. L’avenir is a tailored program that pairs mentees and mentors according to specific skills and potential, backing up their positions as future leaders with a strong portfolio of work,” says Lam.
Fifteen female creatives have already been picked for the program over the last two months. They will be paired with 30+ mentors, including Publicis Groupe APAC & MEA’s Natalie Lam, Chief Strategy Officer Ed Booty, Chief Client Officer Anthony Wong, Head of Creative Technology Laurent Thevenet, and Head of Creativity Jason Williams.
They will be joined by top management and C-Suite leaders from Publicis agencies as mentors such as, Kelly Pon (CCO, BBH China), Sally Anderson (Group CD, MetaDesign China), and Ajay Thrivikraman (CCO, Publicis Groupe, Southeast Asia), amongst others.
Anna Tomasetti, creative community manager at Publicis Groupe further explains, “L’avenir means ‘the future’, and it is a program where our future creative leaders can reach their full potential through targeted skills development and mentorship. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime career development opportunity for our participants that will contribute directly to Publicis Groupe’s creative and leadership base for years to come.”
The program includes 1:1 monthly mentorship meetings, career growth sessions with chief talent officers, tailored creative training sessions, and leadership masterclasses. Participants will also get to use relevant technology and digital tools. Moreover, they will get to partner with one of Publicis Groupe’s biggest clients in the final three months of the program.
