Six Middle East & Africa creatives have been selected for the Next Creative Leaders 2025 jury, part of the One Club for Creativity. L to R: Nnenna Onyewuchi - founder, The Barefoot Strategist, Lagos, Ali Rez - CCO, Impact BBDO, Dubai, Nayaab Rais - ECD, FP7 McCann, Dubai, Enas Rashwan - founder, CEO, Cairo Ad School and Saudi Ad School; president, The One Club-Cairo chapter, Cairo/Riyadh, Sands Mathura - ACD, Accenture Song South Africa, Cape Town, Rana Sadek, creative director, IMPACT BBDO, Dubai (Picture by Lesley Svenson, Bizcommunity)

The six creatives are among the initial 39 creatives from 21 countries named to serve on the jury.

A free global competition recognising women and non-binary creatives on the rise, Next Creative Leaders is celebrating its 10th year.

It was created in partnership with The 3% Movement as the industry’s only free portfolio competition that identifies, celebrates, and provides a global platform to talented women, non-binary, and trans creatives who are making their mark on the world with both their work and unique point of view on creative leadership that’s changing the industry for the better.

NCL 2025 Middle East & Africa jury members

• Nnenna Onyewuchi, founder, The Barefoot Strategist, Lagos, Nigeria
  
• Sands Mathura, ACD, Accenture Song South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
  
• Enas Rashwan. founder, CEO, Cairo Ad School and Saudi Ad School; president, The One Club-Cairo chapter, Cairo/Riyadh, Eygpt/Saudi Arabia
  
• Nayaab Rais, ECD, FP7 McCann, Dubai, UAE
  
• Ali Rez, CCO, IMPACT BBDO, Dubai, UAE
  
• Rana Sadek, creative director, IMPACT BBDO, Dubai

The complete list of NCL 2025 jurors can be viewed here.

Eligible participants are those who are stepping into leadership roles, including copywriters, art directors, designers, ACDs, content creators, and recently promoted creative and design directors with less than one year in the role, and creative teams who are doing game-changing work.

Entries highlighting a candidate’s creativity, leadership, and unique point of view must be submitted by 16 June 2025 deadline.

To make Next Creative Leaders as open and accessible as possible, there is no fee to enter.

Entrants are judged on four-to-six pieces of creative work 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.

Along with naming global winners in August based upon the highest jury scores, the competition also recognises regional winners in APAC, Europe, Latin America, Middle East/Africa, and North America.

An archive of past NCL winners, sorted by year, can be viewed here.

Each NCL winner receives a one-year complimentary individual membership with The One Club, with opportunities to serve on juries for one of The One Club’s awards programmes, and receive a complimentary ticket to a One Club professional development conference ($1,000+ value), panels, and mentorship events.

Winners also have their work showcased on The One Club website and social channels, covered by media partners, and have potential opportunities to speak at NCL events.

Branding for Next Creative Leaders 2025 was designed by Du Nieto (he/they), an NCL 2021 winner who serves as lead designer at Revolut, and independent creative at dadada.work. Originally from Camaçari, Bahia, Brazil, Du Nieto is now based in London.

Font for the branding – Romie Light Italic – was donated by Margot Lévêque Studio, based in New York.

Bizcommunity is an official media partner for the Next Creative Leaders.

Please visit the Next Creative Leaders 2025 website for more information and to enter.