Isobar-Dentsu Kenya's Teresa Nyamorambo Makori, regional winner for Africa in Next Creative Leaders 2021

Teresa Nyamorambo Makori, associate creative director at Isobar-Dentsu Kenya Nairobi

Now in its seventh year, Next Creative Leaders (NCL) is a portfolio competition that identifies, celebrates and gives a global platform to talented women and non-binary creatives who are making their mark on the world with both their work and a unique point of view on creative leadership that’s changing the industry for the better.

Global Top-10 highest-scoring NCL 2021 winners, as well as regional winners for Africa, APAC, Europe, Latin America, MENA and North America, were selected by a diverse global jury of more than 70 top creatives from around the world. The announcement was made at the opening day of the 10th annual 3% Conference in Atlanta.

The complete list of Global Top-10 and Regional winners can be viewed here.

NCL recognises those who are stepping into leadership roles. Entrants were judged on four-to-six pieces of creative work, their background and information about how they — and their work — are pushing the industry forward and making a positive contribution in terms of diversity, mentoring and advocacy. To make Next Creative Leaders as open and accessible as possible, there is no fee to enter the competition.

“The One Club has a long-standing commitment to providing programming that helps improve the industry's diversity and gender equality,” said Kevin Swanepoel, CEO of The One Club. “We are proud to produce programs like Next Creative Leaders that identify, elevate and give voice to those who are making a real difference. They are the ones who are opening the door and inspiring the next generation of women and non-binary creatives who follow in their footsteps.”

“Many of our winners spoke to a desire to help our industry to evolve in a way that made space for mental health care in the wake of burnout and the pandemic,” says Kat Gordon, founder of The 3% Movement. “Globally, women still see sexism as the root of most global issues that are worth solving. Winners shared how this award helped validate that they were becoming the leaders they wanted when they were coming up. We’re also celebrating how this year took us over the 100-winner mark historically for NCL.”

Each NCL winner receives a one-year complimentary individual membership with The One Club with opportunities to participate in future One Club awards juries, complimentary tickets to a One Club professional development conference ($1,000+ value), panels and mentorship events, complimentary ticket to The 3% Conference, and a potential opportunity to speak on the annual Next Creative Leaders panel.

Each winner also gets a dedicated article and has their work showcased on The One Club website, promotion on both The 3% Movement and The One Club social channels, an invitation to be a part of the 2022 Next Creative Leaders Jury, and a special feature on the InVisible Creatives website and Instagram account.

Branding for Next Creative Leaders 2021 was designed by NCL 2020 winner Elma Karabegovic, with font designer Zacchary Dempsey-Plante.