To mark 25 years since the first banner ad and the birth of the digital marketing industry as we know it, The Drum is partnering with Futures Network and WACL for a special project. Together, we want your help to identify and celebrate 25 women who have defined digital over the last 25 years.
Men may have dominated digital roles over the past quarter century, but we know that women have been behind so many of the industry’s milestone moments and leading businesses, and we also know that all too often their contribution has been overlooked. It’s time for that to change.
25 From 25 will honour the achievements of these pioneers and tell their stories, but we need your help to do that. From today, we are calling on our readers to nominate themselves, or the individuals they admire, and tell us why they merit this recognition.
You have until 17 July to enter yourself, a colleague or peer here.
Gordon Young, editor-in-chief of The Drum, said: “The biggest contribution The Drum can make in terms of gender equality is to recognise brilliant women who can encourage a younger generation to follow in their footsteps. This is why this project is so important – women have helped define the digital industry and the 25th anniversary of the very first digital ad allows us to celebrate that fact by identifying inspirational role models.”
Once all nominations have been collected, a jury drawn from The Drum, Futures Network and WACL will determine the final 25. They will be profiled on thedrum.com later this year and recognised at The Dadi Awards, on 9 October, where one especially inspirational inductee will be honoured with a special achievement award.
Visha Naul, co-founder of The Futures Network, said: “The Futures Network is set up to inspire and support the next generation of female leaders and to find the role models of today. These are the bright minds that are breaking down barriers and carving a path for others to follow. We are incredibly proud to be supporting an initiative that champions female leaders. We want to identify and celebrate this group of innovators, who embody smart thinking and creativity in digital – and are driving growth for their businesses because of it.
“Digital is crucial across all areas of marketing, whether creative, marketing, broadcast or tech, so I’m excited to see the stories told through the final 25 winners. We hope these will inspire and provoke new ways of thinking across the industry – giving insight into best practices that will resonate with all fellow digital professionals.”
Pippa Glucklich, WACL president and chief executive of Amplifi, added: “WACL’s purpose is to accelerate gender equality in the marketing and communications industry. Ever since we were founded in 1923 we’ve been able to work with, learn from and hopefully nurture the talents of some of the most talented women around.
“We are thrilled to be part of this fantastic initiative to recognise these inspiring and pioneering women – genuine trailblazers whose achievements in the digital world are not celebrated as often as they should be. This is an opportunity to do just that – giving them the platform they deserve because their incredible stories are an inspiration to us all.”