Cannes Lions launches the Lions Scholarship

LIONS will support more than 130 underrepresented members of the creative community and emerging talent with access to Cannes Lions.

LIONS has announced the launch of the LIONS Scholarship. The scholarship is designed to support the next generation of talent. It offers a group of young people from around the world a funded place on the Cannes Lions Brand Marketers and Creative Academies, which will take place during the festival in June. 

The new initiative is a part of LIONS’ drive to introduce more opportunities for underrepresented groups through fully-funded talent programmes at Cannes Lions. 

Simon Cook, CEO, LIONS, said, “We’ve spent 70 years helping to shape careers, foster connections, and platform the power of creativity on a global scale. As we look forward to the next 70 years, we will focus on creating opportunities, providing access, and nurturing the next generation of creative marketing leaders."

"As part of our mission to support those ‘in the making’ and drive progress for people, we’re opening up the Festival to more than 130 people from groups traditionally underrepresented in the creative industries."

The scholarship will mark the festival's 70th edition. The LIONS talent programme includes a range of early career initiatives with the LIONS Academies and Young Lions Competitions designed to catapult young talent in their careers. Additionally, LIONS current talent accelerator programmes continue this year, including See It Be It, which aims to help achieve equal gender representation of creative directors and leaders. 

Included within the wider talent programme are community-led initiatives which have been designed in partnership with the global creative industry. These include: a programme with The Black Executive CMO Alliance to bring Future Leaders from The BECA Playbook to Cannes; complimentary passes for the winners of the Perifa Education Programme which is designed for creatives from the Brazilian peripheries; support of the #CannesForAll initiative, launched by the Brixton Finishing School, DigiLearning Foundation and Lollipop Mentoring, with Festival access for their 12 talents; and a continued partnership with Cephas Williams to provide Black talent with Cannes Lions access and a curated Festival programme.