One-hundred thirty underrepresented members of the global creative community and emerging talent will be given access to Cannes Lions through its new scholarship, the organizers have announced.

The Lions Scholarship winners will each receive “a fully funded place” in the Cannes Lions Brand Marketers and Creative Academies next June during the festival in the south of France.

The initiative was announced not long after the organizers confirmed that its Young Lions competition would resume in-person for the first time since the festival ran in 2019, prior to being cancelled and then online-only due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Lions, the aim of the programs will be to introduce more opportunities for underrepresented groups at the event, a criticism leveled at it for a long time due to the expense of attending officially as a delegate.

Applications for the talent programs will be taken through the dedicated section of the Cannes Lions website.

Creative Ladder, which aims to make careers in the industry more accessible, will also partner with the Young Lions initiative this year.

Creativity and accessibility

Simon Cook, chief executive of Lions, said in a statement that the aim was to “focus on creating opportunities, providing access and nurturing the next generation” in the creative, marketing and advertising sectors.

“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. To mark our 70th edition, we’re introducing the inaugural Lions Scholarship. This initiative is designed to increase the accessibility of Cannes Lions’ bespoke academies, which offer a curated education program at the heart of the Festival,” he explained.

The event will also see the continuation of the Lions’ current talent accelerator programs such as See It Be It, which aims to drive equal gender representation of creative directors and leaders, it has also been revealed.

Another talent initiative running alongside the academies will be with The Black Executive CMO Alliance as well as the offer of complimentary passes for the winners of the Perifa Education Program to support Brazilian creative professionals.