iProspect UK Biddable Director, Priya Datta, has been recognised as one of the most influential women in the UK advertising industry, scooping two prizes at the Wacl Future Leaders Award.
Wacl (Women in Advertising and Communications London) is a network of key female leaders, including Tracy De Groose, which aims to enable women in our industry to reach their full potential and work to attain senior positions within the industry.
Each year, Wacl gives an additional award to one of the Future Leader winners in honour of long-standing member of Wacl, Patricia Mann OBE who died in 2006. Mann was truly an inspirational and influential trailblazer for women within the world of advertising and communications. This year, two recipients received the prestigious Patricia Mann award, including Priya.
To take part, candidates were asked to put together an entry which emphasised their passions, motivations and achievements. Upon being shortlisted, they were then invited to a panel interview attended by ten senior leaders in the industry.
Priya has proven herself to be a driving force for change, proactively seeking opportunities to make a positive difference, by bringing out the best in people, supporting company CSR initiatives and providing weekly counselling for young people at Childline. An advocate for gender equality in the workplace, Priya has worked to highlight the role different people and personalities have in driving business performance. As a self-confessed introvert, she understands it can be particularly challenging for people like herself to cut through the noise of an extraverted media landscape. She was granted the award for her ambition to move into a leadership position and a desire to act as a role model for, and harness the potential of, female introverts in the industry.
Winners of the award are provided with a bursary to attend a course of their choice and Priya selected the Communicate with Impact course. This course helps attendees create personal impact by exploring interpersonal communication. Priya aims to use her learnings to develop a toolkit to support others.
Priya said ‘I am humbled to have been granted this award and commit to paying forward the support I have received from the amazing female leaders within iProspect, including Emmaclare Huntriss and Felicity Long’.
Priya will be giving a presentation about her experience of the Wacl Future Leaders award at Gather, Wacl’s annual training conference for young women in marketing and communications, on 25th May.
