Colleen DeCourcy to Be Awarded Cannes Lions Lifetime Achievement Award

Cannes Lions has announced that Colleen DeCourcy will receive this year’s Lion of St. Mark. The award will be presented to DeCourcy for a lifetime of service to creativity in communications at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity 2022, which takes place 20-24 June.

The former chief creative officer and president of Wieden+Kennedy is described in a Cannes Lions press release, that announced the award this morning, as: "one of the creative industry's most inspiring leaders. A creative trailblazer." Colleen is recognised for leading innovative companies and advocating for a more equitable industry throughout her career, up until her retirement from Wieden+Kennedy and the ad industry in 2021. 

The celebrated creative, who was selected by AdWeek as the 'creative leader of the decade' in 2019, will also be a jury president at this year's awards show. She will helm the jury for the Cannes Lions award that is dedicated to 'culture-shifting' creativity, Glass: The Lion for Change - a change from her previous roles as jury president for Titanium Lions and Cyber Lions across the years.

Commenting on receiving the Lion of St. Mark in a Cannes Lions press release, Colleen says: “I’m drawn to the fact that creativity - regardless of who or where it comes from - can change this industry and our world. If I’m proud of anything, it’s that I’ve been able to create space for people to unlock their own creative potential, showing there is room for all of us here.”

In the same statement from the awards show, Cannes Lions Chairman Philip Thomas explains how vital Colleen's creativity and leadership has been to both the industry and the Lions awards: "Under Colleen’s creative leadership, Wieden+Kennedy has delivered brave, boundary-breaking, multi-Lion-winning work. Her creativity has truly inspired the global industry to raise the creative bar. We’re absolutely delighted to present Colleen DeCourcy with the Lion of St. Mark at the Festival.”