Droga5 ANZ, co-chief creative officer, Barbara Humphries is leaving the agency. Humphries joined the agency, when it was known as The Monkeys, in 2012 and was appointed executive creative director in 2022. The Monkeys merged into Droga5 in December 2024.

Humphries was appointed co-chief creative officer with Damon Stapleton in April last year, when Tara Ford moved to Droga5 London to be chief creative officer there.

Before joining the Monkeys for twelve years, Humphries had creative roles at Wieden+Kennedy London and Publicis Mojo Melbourne. She began her career as a junior art director at Vogue Australia. She also spent nearly seven years on the AWARD Council until 2024.

Humphries was part of the creative leadership behind two of The Monkeys’ biggest Cannes Lions wins including The Government of Tuvalu’s The First Digital Nation, which took out the Dan Wieden Titanium Lions Grand Prix in 2023 and Sydney Opera House’s Play It Safe, which won the Film Lions Grand Prix the following year. It also made ANDY history in 2024 as the first-ever winner of Best In Show Craft.

She has been jury president at Spikes Asia 2026, D&AD 2026, One Show 2025, AWARD and Shots. In recent years she has also judged at D&AD, Cannes Lions, Spikes Asia, Clios, One Show, LIA and AWARD.

Humphries has been ranked the #1 executive creative director in APAC in The One Show’s Global Creative Rankings and named joint AWARD Creative Leader of the Year in 2024. She has appeared on the Women in Media Power List for the last three years.