Cannes Lions has announced Colleen DeCourcy as the recipient of 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.

Colleen DeCourcy, former Chief Creative Officer and President of Wieden+Kennedy, is one of the creative industry’s most inspiring leaders. A creative trailblazer, DeCourcy first joined Wieden+Kennedy as global executive creative director in 2013 and announced her retirement from the agency and the advertising industry in 2021. DeCourcy has spent her career leading innovative companies and advocating for a more equitable industry. She was named one of Fast Company magazine’s Most Creative People in Business, honoured with the Fearless Voices award by the organisation She Runs It, and in 2019 was selected as the creative leader of the decade by AdWeek magazine.

Since 2013, Wieden+Kennedy and its network of global offices has amassed 149 Lions at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, one of W+K’s most successful eras. This includes five Grands Prix: four for W+K’s seminal creative work with Nike, including the epic ‘Nothing Beats a Londoner’ campaign by Wieden+Kennedy London, winning the inaugural Social & Influencer Lions Grand Prix in 2018; and in 2020/21 Nike’s lauded ‘You Can’t Stop Us’ by Wieden+Kennedy Portland, was awarded a highly coveted Film Lions Grand Prix.

Alongside receiving the Lion of St. Mark in 2022, DeCourcy will represent the Festival as Jury President for Glass: The Lion for Change, the award that celebrates culture-shifting creativity. At previous festivals, she has stood as the Titanium Lions Jury President (2019), Jury President for the now-retired Cyber Lions (2017), as well as serving on both the Titanium Lions jury and the Cyber Lions jury across multiple years.

Commenting on receiving the Lion of St. Mark, Colleen DeCourcy, 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.”

Susie Walker, VP Awards & Insights, LIONS, commented: “We’re thrilled that Colleen DeCourcy will be honored with this year’s Lion of St. Mark. A creative pioneer, she has advocated for parity in the industry throughout her influential career, demonstrating creativity as a driver for change. We would also like to thank Colleen for bringing her creative expertise to one of the festival’s most vital awards, Glass: The Lion for Change, as Jury President this year.”

Philip Thomas, Chairman, LIONS, commented: “Colleen DeCourcy is not only a hugely influential creative leader, she has been vital to the Lions, bringing her immense creative prowess to the jury rooms and Festival stages, over many years. 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.”