Tasneem Karamallah wins the MEA Helen Landsdowne Resor Scholarship

The scholarship of US $10,000 each supports five young female creative arts students in their final year at university.

Named after the industry’s and J Walter Thompson’s first female copywriter, the HLR Scholarship is a global programme launched by J Walter Thompson and the 4A’s in 2014. It was designed to confront the disproportionately low presence of female creative leadership in the advertising industry, offering a select group of young aspiring female creatives the support they need to change the tides.

Each winner receives an individual scholarship up to $10,000, a paid summer internship with the company’s office in her respective region, a company mentor, and a ‘first look’ placement consideration upon graduation.

“I am really proud of what I achieved, and for everyone who supported me getting here. This will push me even further. It is precisely this fact that means I have to achieve much, much more now with the scholarship. I feel I am at the start of my journey. I need to dig deeper in myself and in my work; I need to discover what others are not seeing even though they look at the same thing. I need to be brave and make something different with my work. The Scholarship has given me so much motivation and fuelled my passion and ambition. Thank you for the opportunity and I hope I live up to the challenge,’ says Karamallah.

Other winners

• Asia Pacific: Yanci Wu, an Experience Designer working towards her Master’s in Business at the Virginia Commonwealth University. Originally from China, she left behind her entire family to pursue her creative passions.
  
• Europe: Manuela Rondón, a copywriting student at the Miami Ad School of Berlin. Originally from the Dominican Republic, she earned her Bachelor’s in Advertising, Creative & Management from Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo.
  
• North America: Limah Taeb, a first generation Afghan-Muslim-American who is currently pursuing a Master’s in Business at the Virginia Commonwealth University. She is an advocate for encouraging women and minorities to enter the tech and design fields.
  
• South Asia: Sneha Sankar, a graphic design student at the National Institute of Design in India. She was pivotally shaped by her participation on a women’s sports team where she learned about gender biases and inequalities.