Berlin School & IAA announce winner for Women in Creative Leadership

The Berlin School of Creative Leadership today announced Collette Wasielewski, Creative Director, FCB Johannesburg, as winner of the 2017 "Helga and Michael Conrad Scholarship for Women in Creative Leadership." Wasielewski will receive a full-tuition scholarship (worth 53,000 Euro) to attend the Berlin School's prestigious global Executive MBA in Creative Leadership Program starting September 2017.

Supported by the IAA, the global scholarship competition was founded by the Berlin School of Creative Leadership's President Michael Conrad and his wife, Helga, to further the development of women in leadership positions and advocate for greater diversity within the creative industries. The coveted scholarship was promoted by the global IAA community and was open to nominations and applications for any female creative leaders in the advertising industry. The winner was selected from a shortlist that was reviewed and evaluated by a dedicated team of industry experts, Berlin School alumni and donators, including Carla Michelotti and Norkor Duah of IAA, Kitty Lun of Facebook, and Helga and Michael Conrad.

"We are very pleased about the strong response to our joint scholarship announcement. Big thanks to all applicants for their wealth of thinking and ideas to change the status quo on the very issue! We'd love to have all of you at the school and very much hope you can find support. Collette focused her bid on the very special complexity women face in her country of South Africa and offered a promising research and engagement approach. Congratulations Collette! Welcome to Class 21 in September in Berlin!"

            - Helga and Michael Conrad

"The IAA is honored to have an important role in this worthy initiative. Diversity cannot be something people in our industry simply talk about, instead we all have a duty of active engagement to make a real improvement and a real difference. The IAA aims for diversity itself - in our chapters around the world, and on our own association leadership team. Congratulations to Helga and Michael and all at The Berlin School-as always looking ahead, and looking in the right direction!"

 - Felix Tataru, IAA Chairman and World President on behalf of all IAA members

"Winning the scholarship still feels a bit like a dream. Going through the scholarship application process in itself provoked so many new perspectives and thoughts, and I can't even begin to imagine the new directions and ideas that the entire EMBA course will unlock for me. I am really pleased to be doing the course in my capacity as an employee of the FCB Group - a progressive environment when it comes to female empowerment and diversity and a place where my learnings can be implemented and supported."

 - Collette Wasielewski

The part-time EMBA program-which Wasielewski will start in September 2017 - is designed for senior executives in the creative industry who have a track record for creative excellence. Comprising of five separate two-week modules spanning over 18-24 months across the USA, Asia and Berlin, the flexible, multi-disciplinary leadership program is the first Executive MBA to be built around the specific needs and challenges of the creative industries.

If you have any questions, please contact the Berlin School at tel. +49 (0) 30 884 980 80 or via email: info@berlin-school.com.