Singapore creatives Grace Wong + Audrey Chia launch sites to help women creatives be found
BBH Singapore creatives Grace Wong and Audrey Chia were having a discussion about International Women’s Day and the topic turned to challenges in the advertising industry and the present state of representation of women creatives.
The duo came up with the brilliant idea of creating a repository of women creative portfolios to help them, quite simply, be found.
“We are in a good place at BBH Singapore as there’s a huge focus on diversity and inclusion, where a lot is being done to better balance gender representation,” said Chia (pictured left). “From hiring to opportunities to the most fundamental of all, having a voice. This spurred us into doing something for women creatives. Something personal and close to our hearts.”
With the support of their Creative Directors, Khairul Mondzi and Janson Choo, Wong and Chia have launched two sites – ArtdirectHer.com and CopywritHer.com.
“If we want more women in the creative industry, we need to start by hiring women,” explains Wong (pictured on right). “And the first step is highlighting their portfolios so that agencies and recruiters can easily search for women creatives. Through this, we hope to close the gender gap in the creative industry, one portfolio at a time. It’s a simple idea but something that has the potential to create meaningful change.
The project was launched yesterday on International Women’s Day but they don’t want it to be a one-off initiative. Chia and Wong hope to continue growing both sites, and for agencies to actively use them in their recruitment process.
Currently, they are starting this project with Singapore-based creatives but believe it definitely has the potential to run in other countries.
“We hope that this project will help to inspire our fellow female creatives to take charge, live fearlessly and create their own tomorrow,” said Chia.
If you would like your portfolio listed on the Singapore sites – ArtdirectHer.com and CopywritHer.com – drop them an email at artdirecthercopywrither@gmail.com
6 Comments
Quite kool initiative…perfect for headhunters! Ironic though, coming from an agency that has a predominantly male management makeup (at least 95%) and an abysmal female representation in their creative department. And now that the world has met their only two female creatives, they can soon say goodbye to them too…
Hi JoanofAds, if you are a creative, email me janson.choo@bartleboglehegarty.com we are hiring.
Such a simple idea, yet much needed. Only wish it was done way earlier, so hats off to you Grace and Audrey for cracking it!
No doubt, what they’ve done is great. But the agency riding off their thunder says it all. They needed the support of their male CDs to get this out. Seriously? It’s their initiative. Why did they need permission?
I think Grace and Audrey are just acknowledging the support of their bosses and agency in their achievement. Good on BBH.
Ugh that they needed male superiors to “support” the idea. I wonder what those male bosses even did. Isn’t Bbh’s creative department still sorely lacking female CDs? 🥱