Gerety Talks with Joana Mendes

Just like the award show, the Gerety Talks series puts some of the marketing and creative industries true changemakers in the spotlight and at the centre of the conversation for a refreshing take on what leadership looks like.

Joana is a creative director with a solid digital copywriting background, but also much more than that.

She became the first black president of the Brazilian Creative Club and the first LGBTQIA+. The committee is also the first 100% black committee in the history of the Club. In her first year as president, she gave more employee benefits, granted six international scholarships for students, changed headquarters, and had a fantastic Festival - which broke records and had the most diverse jury ever and also broke a record of cases submitted in the last two years.

She has also worked as a CD at R/GA and Fbiz, leading teams to excellent results but being aware that a team can only be great if everyone is treated with respect and understand everyone's importance to get to the best place possible. She managed accounts like Google, YouTube, Ágora, and next in R/GA and Jeep, Samsung, Gallo, and James at Fbiz. She also made 25 sprints at MESA for clients such as Kellogg's, Nike, Nestle, Google, and more. There she gained the ability to problem-solving and have quick ideation. She has also worked as a Copywriter at agencies like Africa, WT, Loducca, and FCB.

In 2019, she was considered one of 30 young talents changing the creative industry by Papel&Caneta and a Youpix Builder by Youpix. In 2021, she was considered one of the ten most relevant communication professionals by M&M 100 Creative by AdWeek in 2022.

In 2022, she was a juror and speaker at the Cannes Festival - one of the first black Brazilians to speak at the Cannes Festival - and she also spoke for the students of Young Lions Creative Academy, of which she was part in 2012.

She just launched a children's book, Manual de Penteados para Crianças Negras published by Cia das Letrinhas, the largest publisher in Brazil. She wrote the book to teach children and their caregivers how to style curly and coiled hair.

She was born and raised in Porto Velho, a city in the Amazon Forest. She has lived in Rio and now in São Paulo and has travelled the entire country plus some Latin American countries throughout her childhood, which makes her have a different background from most creatives around. She speaks Portuguese, English, and Spanish fluently. She can write and communicate confidently and efficiently in these three languages and is also an intermediate-level French speaker.

Besides that, she loves to sing, cook, play the guitar, and play basketball. Her friends would say that she is a reliable person with a fun and sarcastic personality. 

Find out more here.