Cannes Lions announces Jury Presidents, 57% are women

Cristina Blanaru Ads, Creativity, Festivals & Awards

Cannes Lions announced its Jury Presidents for this year edition, that is aimed to be again an offline and in person one. Bozoma Saint John, Merlee Jayme and Geoff Northcott complete the full line-up and join the jury presidents initially appointed for the 2020 awards. 

Philip Thomas, Chairman, LIONS, said:

“We know that after the postponement of last year’s awards, our Jury Presidents are eager to get going. They will be leading juries in a unique year, awarding Lions for both 2020 and 2021 – no small job but one that will provide a crucial reflection and insight into the industry’s recent unprecedented journey. Happily, they’re an extremely talented bunch of individuals and more than qualified to take on the job of setting the world’s new creative benchmark.” 


Cannes Lions was founded in 1954 and, this year, for the first time in festival´s history, women represent more then half (57%) from the total number of Jury Presidents

Cannes Lions is scheduled to take place from 21-25 June 2021, and will incorporate the awarding of both the 2020 and 2021 Lions.

The 2021 Jury Presidents have been confirmed as follows: 


Communication Track

  • Titanium Lions – Susan Credle, Global Chief Creative Officer, FCB, Global
  • Design Lions – Pum Lefebure, Chief Creative Officer, Design Army, USA
  • Film Lions – Richard Brim, Chief Creative Officer, adam&eveDDB, UK
  • Mobile Lions – Andrew Keller, VP, Global Creative Director, Facebook, Global
  • Outdoor Lions – Luiz Sanches, Chairman, Chief Creative Officer & Partner, AlmapBBDO, Brazil
  • Print & Publishing Lions – Liz Taylor, Global Chief Creative Officer Leo Burnett / Worldwide Chief Creative Officer Publicis Communications NA, Global 
  • Radio & Audio Lions – Merlee Jayme, Global President Dentsu Mcgarrybowen/Chairmom Dentsu Jayme Syfu, Global

Craft Track

  • Digital Craft Lions – Jax Ostle-Evans, Managing Director, Stink Studios, UK
  • Film Craft Lions – Kerstin Emhoff, President, PRETTYBIRD, USA
  • Industry Craft Lions – Jayanta Jenkins, EVP, Head of Marketing, Disney+, Global

Entertainment Track

  • Entertainment Lions – Jae Goodman, CEO, Observatory (A Stagwell and CAA Company), Global
  • Entertainment Lions for Music – Wyclef Jean, President and Chief Strategy Officer, Carnival World Music Group, USA
  • Entertainment Lions for Sport – Ben Hartman, Chief Client Officer, International, Octagon, Global

Experience Track

  • Brand Experience & Activation Lions – Vicki Maguire, Chief Creative Officer, Havas, UK
  • Creative Business Transformation Lions – Geoff Northcutt, Global Chief Experience Officer & Managing Partner, EMEA, AKQA, Global
  • Creative eCommerce Lions – Tiffany Rolfe, Global Chief Creative Officer, R/GA, Global 

Good Track

  • Glass: The Lion for Change – Bozoma Saint John, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Netflix, Global
  • Sustainable Development Goals Lions – Eduardo Maruri, VP Global Creative Board & President/CEO Europe, Grey Worldwide, Global

Health Track

  • Health & Wellness Lions – Tom Richards, Global Chief Creative Officer, 21GRAMS, Global
  • Pharma Lions – Anne de Schweinitz, Global Managing Director, Healthcare, FleishmanHillard, Global

Innovation Track

  • Innovation Lions – Claudia Cristovao, Head of Google Brand Studio, APAC, Google, APAC

Impact Track    

  • Creative Effectiveness Lions – Ann Mukherjee, Chairman and CEO, Pernod Ricard NA, USA

Reach Track

  • Creative Data Lions – Maurice Riley, Chief Data Officer, Digitas, Australia & New Zealand
  • Creative Strategy Lions – Suzanne Powers, Global Chief Strategy Officer, McCann Worldgroup, Global
  • Direct Lions – Reed Collins, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy, Asia
  • Media Lions – Philippa Brown, Worldwide CEO, PHD, Global
  • PR Lions – Gail Heimann, President & CEO, Weber Shandwick, Global
  • Social & Influencer Lions – Debbi Vandeven, Global Chief Creative Officer, VMLY&R, Global