Thirteen mentees from Australia and New Zealand and 39 from 11 Asian countries join 200 mentees participating in London International Awards – Creative LIAisons Virtual Coaching program. Their journey began in May and will continue through November.

The program offers young industry professionals a rare opportunity to have real time, one-to-one e-coaching with three different well-known, well-awarded and well-established industry leaders from around the world. Coaches will share their expertise and experiences of their many years in the industry. These private e-mentoring sessions cover all disciplines with emphasis on skill development, elevating ideas and boosting creative confidence to fast-track careers. Creativity is fluid, so there are no set rules or a prescribed formula for the sessions. Each session is customised between mentor and mentee. They are at full liberty to design how they want to conduct each session. The end game is to hone the skills of young creatives, so they can reach their full potential and rise to greater heights.

Laurissa Levy, Creative LIAisons director & events director, stated, “If you go on the internet and search how to find a mentor, you’ll find that the most frequent advice tells you to set your goals, explore who is in your network, reach out, meet up and nurture that relationship. But, we all know how hard it can be to achieve all of that if you are a young creative. It’s a big ask to get a busy, respected senior creative to be a mentor. That’s why, Creative LIAisons has established its virtual coaching program. We match mentees with mentors from all around the globe. Our aim is to extend this opportunity to as many as possible, even in less represented markets. This virtual coaching program began in 2021 and has become an integral part of the Creative LIAisons program, an educational initiative to give back to the industry that supports us.”

Creative LIAisons virtual mentees from Australia and New Zealand are:
 
AUSTRALIA
Daniel Borghesi, Senior Copywriter, M&C Saatchi, Melbourne
Amanda Chen, Art Director, VML, Melbourne
Annika Duncan, Junior Copywriter, Momentum Energy, Melbourne
Isabel Evans, Copywriter, VML, Melbourne 
Ewan Harvey, Copywriter, The Monkeys, Part of Accenture Song, Sydney  
Tayla Orr, Art Director, Freelance, Melbourne
Jake Rowland, Art Director, M&C Saatchi, Sydney
Charlotte Smith, Art Director, HERO, Melbourne
Sophie Walter, Social Creative, Orchard, Sydney
Alana Wood, Art Director, TBWA\Melbourne, Melbourne
 
NEW ZEALAND
Léon Bristow, Junior Art Director, Colenso BBDO, Auckland
Jack Roberts, Social Content Producer, FCB Aotearoa, Auckland
Phoebe Rooney, Junior Copywriter, DDB Aotearoa, Auckland

Mentee-mentor matching:
The focus is on the mentees, to give them greater length, breadth, height and depth with these sessions. So careful consideration is given to the mentees’ requests.
While mentees were able to submit their wish list from the list of 200 mentors, there were a few additional criteria we abide by to find mentees the right fit. The rule of thumb is that no mentee will be mentored by someone in their own company, either locally or globally.

Mentee-mentor selection:
To be eligible for the program, mentees have to be currently working in the industry or a related business and be between the ages of 21 and 30 years old.
 
LIA does not directly select mentees. Companies and agency networks that support LIA put forward candidates. Additionally, LIA collaborates with different ad clubs, associations, and trade press by allocating spaces to winners of creative competitions organised by them. To cast the net even wider, the Creative LIAisons Virtual Coaching Program does accept a certain quota of self-nominations. 

Laurissa Levy added, “As the e-coaching sessions are underway, I urge all mentees to make full use of this rare privilege to be part of this program. Your mentors will most definitely challenge you, push you out of your comfort zone, be your confidant, cheer you on to do greater work, help you develop skills or even teach you new ones. But more importantly, they will coach you to aim higher and achieve those aims. It’s the start of your journey with not one, but three top creative minds. Enjoy the ride.”