WPP Media Australia dominated the Champions Of Change awards by AdNews, taking out the trophy for Workforce Diversity and DE&I Initiative of The Year.
The award program celebrates the people, policies and programs shaping a more diverse and inclusive adland. It includes categories for individuals and agencies, judged by a client-side panel of marketers from B-Corp certified businesses.
The winners were celebrated at an awards ceremony at The Eveleigh, Sydney last night (June 19).
In accepting both the Workforce Diversity and DE&I Initiative of The Year awards, WPP Media chief people officer Scott Laird thanked the wider agency team.
The group agency has a multi-year 'Better for All' DE&I framework centred on six key areas, including the development of the A-Plus Inclusion program for neurodiverse talent in partnership with Amaze.
“It takes all the teams to make this program successful, their time and energy influences the program to make it what it is,” Laird said, praising WPP Media performance manager Gordon Geraghty for driving the A-Plus Inclusion program.
“Hopefully there's benefits from that initiative moving forward as part of moving into broader educational programs.”
The judges said that when team members feel safe, they have the freedom to be their true selves at work.
“This (WPP Media) internal initiative targets a large underrepresented community in Australia, and while media businesses have been slow to create inclusive solutions, this WPP Media initiative changes that,” they said.
Enrichd Group won the Social Impact category for “The Game Changers Community School Sports Programs for Societal Impact”. The program harnessed the power of sport to drive inclusion for CALD at-risk and marginalised youth across Australia.
"Congratulations to everyone, I was half tearing up myself seeing some of those initiatives," said co-founder and CEO of Enrichd Group, Brent Richardson.
“My team, we are small and mighty, but I always say in the industry you usually get to work five per cent on your jobs and passions in media, we choose to do it 100 per cent of the time."
TAFE NSW won the Creative Catalyst category for “Our Ways of Learning”, developed in partnership with Indigenous creative consultancy Campfire X and Aboriginal artist Amy Allerton. It led to an increase in Aboriginal Student commencements at TAFE NSW.
"We are deeply humbled to accept the Champions of Change Award,” said Kylie Tarleton, Senior Manager Diversity and Inclusion at TAFE NSW.
“This began in 2019 when Merv Donovan, who is here tonight, initiated a review of Aboriginal support structures in TAFE NSW. His vision made a foundation for what would become a deeply collaborative and culturally rich initiative."
Avenue C business director Elena Giannini took out the Grand Prix for the individual category.
In 2024, she led the charge in reforming Roy Morgan's research panel to better reflect CALD communities and Australians with disabilities, shifting how billions in media are planned.
Accepting the award on her behalf, Jeddah Ryan, Amaysim director of integrated marketing, said she was lucky to call Giannini a friend.
“The value that she brings to me every day is not just limited to the work that she does but because she's incredibly thoughtful and so deserving of this,” she said.
“To quote her, she said to her boss diversity, equity and inclusion should not just be something that we talk about but should be engineered into the very way we collect data, the way we allocate budgets, the marketing decisions that we make. It should be completely built into everything that we do.
“If she was here, she'd be using this as a platform to continue to talk about things that really matter to her.”
Golden Hammer recipient Jen Dobbie, selected by global gender equity pioneer Cindy Gallop to take the award, urged the industry to drive DE&I progress in the creative industries. The Golden Hammer recognises women creating inroads to more senior leadership and creative director roles.
“Only 10% of creative director roles are held by women and just 30% make up the tech workforce,” Dobbie, creative director at Hotwire, said. “We need to move that dial.”
Power List inductee Margie Reid, CEO of Thinkerbell, joined her in encouraging the industry to pursue greater diversity programs and policies.
“Let’s keep going, because it takes all of us making positive steps to take the lead and get where we need to be,” she said.
Marilla Akkermans, the CEO of Equality Media + Marketing, said it was an honour to be inducted into the Power List among individuals driving change.
“I think the commonality that I've been listening to on all nominees tonight is that we're putting people first, and the longer that we keep putting people first, the more that we will all succeed,” she said.
The full list of award winners is below. AdNews would like to thank Cultural Perspectives, MFA and Unltd for supporting the inaugural program.
Workforce Diversity
WPP Media Australia
DE&I Initiative
WPP Media Australia & Amaze
‘A-Plus Inclusion Program’
Social Impact
Enrichd Group
‘The Game Changers Community School Sports Programs for Societal Impact’
Creative Catalyst
TAFE NSW
‘Our Ways of Learning’
The Power List
Marilla Akkermans – Equality Media + Marketing
Elena Giannini – Avenue C (GRAND PRIX)
Linh Diep – Ogilvy
Lindsey Evans – Special Group
Danielle Galipienzo – Initiative
Tess Palmyre – WAMA/Brandable
Margie Reid – Thinkerbell
Sam Turley – Mindshare Australia
Leigh Wood – Nani Creative
Charles Xu - OMD
The Golden Hammer
Jen Dobbie – Hotwire Australia
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