See It Be It helps creative women get to the places they deserve to reach in their careers.

It recruits creative women who have high potential and sponsors them to attend Cannes Lions. They receive a Festival pass, flights and accommodation. 15 women will get to attend See It Be It 2016, be mentored by industry trailblazers, hear from leading thinkers, meet high-profile speakers, observe judging behind-the-scenes and connect with peers. The programme is not only about helping just these women.

See It Be It participants who progress to higher roles then tend to advocate for equality as senior industry players.

Changes have been made to the 2016 programme to increase its results:

• A newly-appointed See It Be It Ambassador
• A live brief, addressing the gender imbalance issue
• Longer duration, additional places and the participation of specialist health, innovation and entertainment creatives

“Under-representation in the industry has received enormous attention in the last two years, but to see long-term cultural change we can’t afford to take our foot off the pedal,” stated Lions Festivals chief executive officer, Philip Thomas. “We want to develop the careers of more creative women through See It Be It, addressing the gap in the most direct way we can, while ensuring the issue remains firmly in the spotlight.”

Sarah Watson, chief strategy officer of BBH New York, is the inaugural See It Be It Ambassador.

Her role will be to champion the programme’s goals of industry gender equality, and act as an advisor. She will also accompany See It Be It participants during the Festival, providing mentorship and input into a special task the group will undertake.

“See It Be It is about giving people new ideas about themselves and what they want to become,” Watson commented. “It is transformative for those involved and for the industry at large. Just thinking about it is exciting. I can’t wait to get started.”

The live brief is a task designed to directly address gender disparity in creative fields in a highly visible way. See It Be It participants will receive a brief for this prior to the Festival and workshop ideas together during their time in Cannes. The aim will be to find a tangible solution that benefits the broader industry.

Want to apply? Everything you need to know to do that is here. Applications are open until April 1, 2016.