Aussie expat Mietta McFarlane, copywriter at Droga5 New York named ‘Next Creative Leader’ winner by The One Club and The 3% Movement

The One Club for Creativity, the world’s foremost non-profit organization recognizing creative excellence in advertising and design, and The 3% Movement, the advertising industry’s leading voice for gender equality and diversity overall, today announced the 10 winners of their joint Next Creative Leaders global awards program for 2018 at this year’s 3% Conference in Chicago.

Among this year’s winners is Aussie expat Mietta McFarlane (pictured), a copywriter at Droga5, New York.

Developed collaboratively by the organizations in 2015, Next Creative Leaders identifies and celebrates talented creative women who are making their mark with both great work and a workplace perspective on diversity that helps change the industry for the better.  While most of the 2018 honorees currently work in the US, the program has a strong global element with three winners located outside the US and half of this year’s winners originally from other countries.

The full list of Next Creative Leaders for 2018 are:

Nedal Ahmed, copywriter, Droga5, New York, NY, USA

Lama Bawadi, copywriter, Leo Burnett, Beirut, Lebanon

Maddy Kramer, art director, Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, NY, USA

Julie Matheny, associate creative director, Droga5, New York, NY, USA

Mietta McFarlane, copywriter, Droga5, New York, NY, USA (originally from Sydney, Australia)

Krystle Mullin, associate creative director, RPA, Santa Monica, CA, USA (originally from Toronto, ON, Canada)

Evelina Rönnung, art director, Forsman & Bodenfors, Stockholm, Sweden

Jessica Shriftman, art director, Wieden+Kennedy, New York, NY, USA

Gayatri Sriram, digital creative head, FCBUlka, New Delhi, India

Lizzie Wilson, associate creative director, McCann New York, NY, USA

Says Kevin Swanepoel, CEO, The One Club: “The One Club for Creativity has a long-standing commitment to providing programming that helps solve the industry’s diversity problem as opposed to just talking about it. We created our own Inclusion & Diversity Department nearly a decade ago, and are proud to support 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 who follow in their footsteps.”

Says Kat Gordon, founder, The 3% Movement: “I’m proud of the level of talent and spirit embodied by this year’s Next Creative Leaders and their contribution to the industry. Half of our winners are originally from outside the US, making this a true global showcase of diversity, advocacy and opportunity for people of every ethnicity.”

To make the Next Creative Leaders program as open and accessible as possible, there is no cost for entering the competition.  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.  Winners were selected by a jury of 42 top creatives, including past Next Creative Leaders winners (complete jury list: http://nextcreativeleaders.org/jury/).

This year’s Next Creative Leaders were featured at The 3% Conference, profiled on The One Club for Creativity website and The 3% Movement blog, promoted through the two organizations’ social media channels and invited to serve as judges for next year’s program.