Cannes Lions has donated €72,819 (AU$107,956) to 10 gender equality charities throughout the world from donations raised through its award for outstanding creative work that shatters gender stereotypes, Glass Lion: the Lion for Change.

This year’s submissions that confronted gender-based prejudice and inequality came from 38 countries. The proceeds from 155 entries into the Glass Lion have been shared between:

• UN Women
• Equality Now
• Pro Mujer, committed to empowering women in Latin America
• Global Fund for Women, which gives voice and resources to women worldwide.
• Gender and Development Network
• Geena Davis Institute
• Men Engage
• Women for Women
• Clinton Foundation
• UN Women National Committee of the UK, dedicated to gender equality with the goal of removing social and cultural barriers.

At Cannes Lions in June, attendees picked their favourite charity from the selected 10 and made donations using an activation platform delivered in partnership with in/PACT.

“When we launched the Glass Lion, we were clear that all proceeds from entry fees would go to appropriate charities. Thank you to all the Cannes Lions attendees who participated in choosing the charities through the in/PACT platform. We hope the Glass Lion will one day focus on other issues within society, and we look forward to the day when an award like this is no longer needed to highlight gender imbalance in the world,” stated Jose Papa, managing director of Lions Festivals.

The Glass Lion was launched in 2015, one of a growing number of initiatives designed by Cannes Lions to promote diversity within creative communications. In 2016, 40% of jury members were women, the highest ratio ever.

See It Be It, the Festival’s initiative for high-potential creative women, aims to change the ratio of female leaders in agency creative departments. In its third year, a cohort of 14 women took part in a tailored programme of main stage seminars, behind-the-scenes jury room access, workshops, one-to-one mentoring and exclusive networking opportunities.

The Glass Grand Prix award, the highest accolade, was won by India’s first transgender band in a campaign by Mindshare for Brooke Bond tea.