WACL Talent Awards

A partnership between NABS and WACL to support and empower women as they grow, lead, and shape the future of our industry.

What are the WACL Talent Awards?

The WACL Talent Awards help emerging female+ leaders take their next step towards leadership. If you’re building your career in media, marketing, advertising or communications, this grant could be for you.

Why were they created?

Created to support more women on the path to leadership, the award offers funding to help you access the training you need to grow with confidence.

2025, was the 20th year of the awards, with 29 individuals granted £1,500 to invest in their future with a training grant.

"Too often training is focused on the roles we are currently in and skills that will help us now. The WACL Talent Award allowed me to pause and reflect on the skills I needed for both future roles and to drive change in our industry."

Jade Behr, EMEA Agency Development Lead, Spotify – 2022 WACL Talent Award Winner

Who can apply?

The WACL Talent Awards is open to all talented individuals identifying as female+ in advertising, marketing, media and communications aspiring to achieve their leadership potential. Your age, background or location in the UK, don’t matter.

To be eligible to apply, you must:

  • Identify as female+ (Female+ is inclusive of: cisgender women, transgender women, non-binary, gender non-conforming and Intersex people.)
  • Be currently or most recently employed or engaged in the media, marketing, advertising and communications industry
  • Be based in the UK
  • Have at least three years of industry experience
  • Be committed to a career within this industry
  • Have the application endorsed by your current/recent employer or sponsor.

What are we looking for?

Here are five questions to help you explore whether the WACL Talent Awards are right for you. These questions are also designed to give you an insight into what the judges are looking for from applications:

  1. Are you passionate about the media, marketing, advertising, and communications industry and can you share examples that bring this passion to life?
  2. How will your chosen course stretch you beyond where you are today and why does it feel like the right opportunity for you and your career?
  3. What examples can you share of supporting, growing and inspiring other women and tackling inclusion for all in the industry?
  4. What have you achieved outside of your day job that you’re proud of (personally and professionally)?
  5. What does being a leader mean to you and what are your leadership ambitions in the future?

Simply put, we want to hear the story of what sort of leader you are, how you inspire others and how you want to progress as a leader

Next steps

Details of the WACL Talent Awards 2025/26 will be revealed soon.

If you have questions, please visit the WACL website to view the FAQ’s or get in touch with one of the team by emailing us at wacl_talent@nabs.org.uk

Visit the WACL website