Mietta McFarlane is one of three Droga5 women to be chosen by The One Club for Creativity and The 3% Movement as Next Creative Leaders. McFarlane is originally from Sydney and is currently a copywriter at Droga5 New York. Her Droga5 stablemate honorees are Julie Matheny, associate creative director at Droga5 New York and Nedal Ahmed, copywriter at Droga5 New York.
Droga5 is the only agency to have more than one winner.
This year’s ten Next creative Leaders are:
- Nedal Ahmed, copywriter, Droga5, New York, NY, USA
- Lama Bawadi, copywriter, Leo Burnett, Beirut, Lebanon
- Maddy Kramer, art director, Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, NY, USA
- Julie Matheny, associate creative director, Droga5, New York, NY, USA
- Mietta McFarlane, copywriter, Droga5, New York, NY, USA (originally from Sydney, Australia)
Mietta McFarlane
- Krystle Mullin, associate creative director, RPA, Santa Monica, CA, USA (originally from Toronto, ON, Canada)
- Evelina Rönnung, art director, Forsman & Bodenfors, Stockholm, Sweden
- Jessica Shriftman, art director, Wieden+Kennedy, New York, NY, USA
- Gayatri Sriram, digital creative head, FCBUlka, New Delhi, India
- Lizzie Wilson, associate creative director, McCann New York, NY, USA
The winners were announced at the 3% Conference in Chicago. Next Creative Leaders was developed by The One Club for Creativity and The 3% Movement in 2015. It identifies and celebrates talented creative women who are making their mark with both great work and a workplace perspective on diversity that helps change the industry for the better.
“The One Club for Creativity has a long-standing commitment to providing programming that helps solve the industry’s diversity problem as opposed to just talking about it,” stated Kevin Swanepoel, chief executive officer, The One Club.
“We created our own Inclusion & Diversity Department nearly a decade ago, and are proud to support programs like Next Creative Leaders that identify, elevate and give voice to those who are making a real difference. They are the ones who are opening the door and inspiring the next generation of women who follow in their footsteps.”
“I’m proud of the level of talent and spirit embodied by this year’s Next Creative Leaders and their contribution to the industry,” added Kat Gordon, founder, The 3% Movement.
“Half of our winners are originally from outside the US, making this a true global showcase of diversity, advocacy and opportunity for people of every ethnicity.”
To make the Next Creative Leaders program as open and accessible as possible, there is no cost for entering the competition. Entrants were judged on four-to-six pieces of creative work, their background and information about how they, and their work, are pushing the industry forward and making a positive contribution in terms of diversity, mentoring and advocacy. Winners were selected by a jury of 42 top creatives, including past Next Creative Leaders winners. View the list of judges here.
