Promising Young Leaders: Forty Rising Stars Chosen for 2022 Yahoo Academy

Nominations flooded in from senior leaders in brands, advertising and media agencies across Australia and New Zealand. The 2022 cohort features talent from major and indie agencies as well as brand marketers directly, who will receive exclusive opportunities to build their personal and professional brand.

The Yahoo Academy returns as a two day in-person event on June 14-15 in Sydney. This year’s agenda boasts an impressive lineup of local and international speakers including future of work author Rishad Tobaccowala, international brand strategist Nicole Hatherley and industry pitch legend, Greg Graham.

In addition to these inspirational speaker sessions, the Class of 2022 will undergo unique brand building workshops, mentoring, industry networking and a live pitch-off event. Winners of the pitch-off will be awarded a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Advertising Week New York this September.

The Yahoo Academy online masterclass series, a virtual extension of the program that launched to the wider industry in 2020, will continue later this year.

On the announcement, Rachel Page, General Manager of Sales at Yahoo ANZ, comments: “Over nearly a decade we’ve fine tuned our program into a winning formula that squeezes the very best out of our industry’s rising talent. Past alumni have gone onto secure top jobs right across the board from MullenLowe to The Brand Agency NZ and Wavemaker. Yahoo Academy has really become a gateway to success for future leaders.

“It’s no secret our industry is currently experiencing a talent crisis. So it’s never been more important for leaders to support and nurture young professionals. Thank you to the leaders who nominated, to all who applied, and congratulations to those that made it into the program. We can’t wait to meet you in person and begin supercharging your brand building journey!”

2022 Yahoo Academy member Joshua Green from Spark Foundry adds, “After two years of sitting at home, one of the things that I'm most looking forward to is the opportunity to connect with people in real life again.

“I'm a believer in the idea that diverse thinking comes from diverse thinkers. I see Yahoo Academy as being an extraordinary catalyst for that and it's ultimately what drove me to apply. I'm really looking forward to hearing different perspectives from right across our sector and getting to know people with skill sets that are totally different to my own.”

Yahoo Academy’s Class of 2022:

• Alice Cattapan, OMD
• Anna Grishaeva, Woolworths
• Anna Natlacen, Havas Media
• Beth Brady, Zenith Media
• Bianca Jones, Starcom
• Briana Masters, MediaCom
• Brittany Meale, OMD
• Byron Parish, OMD
• Carmen Phan, Performics Mercerbell
• Christian Shead, Essence
• Eleana Ward, Dentsu
• Elizabeth Netting, Zenith
• Emily Lo, Bohemia Group
• Emma Bishop, The Brand Agency
• Erin Mendygral, Zenith
• Floriana Deleo, Half Dome
• Galib Hossain, PHD New Zealand
• Grace McNicholas-Lawrence, Mediacom
• Jack Cleaver, Bench
• Jake Devine, MediaCom
• James Turner, Wavemaker
• Jayden Rozsahegyi, Hatched Media
• Joshua Green, Spark Foundry
• Julian Monty, Initiative (IPG)
• Kate Fenton, Dentsu
• Kate Holland, UnLtd
• Keegan Flood, FCB
• Kristy Wainwright, inc. Digital Media
• Laiken Watts, UM
• Linh Nguyen, Wavemaker
• Mehrsa Arefi, Wavemaker NZ
• Millie Coad, PHD Media
• Phoebe Burgess, Enigma Media
• Rebecca Williams, OMD
• Sam Byrne, UM
• Sarah Mushan, Kaimera
• Seerat Singh, UM
• Shahrzad Eftekhar, Mindshare
• Tiadora Martinez, Essence
• Vanessa Metelovski, Initiative