Cephas Williams to take Black creatives to Cannes 2022

Cephas Williams, photographer, creator and founder of the Black British Network launches Crowdfunder campaign to raise money to take as many Black creatives to Cannes Lions Festival 2022 who wouldn’t ordinarily have the access or opportunity to do so.

Cephas Williams wants to help diversify forums such as this by increasing the representation, visibility and access for Black people at events across the media and advertising landscape. There is a huge amount of Black talent across the country who would love to go to Cannes Lions but may not have the funds to get there. This initiative goes beyond just inviting Black people to Cannes, it aims to enhance their experience by having them feel connected, included and benefit from an ecosystem of support and relationships that they can build over time. Cephas Williams will be connecting with Clear Channel and Talon at this year’s festival and will be inviting each Black creative to the events/places where he will be speaking and will personally connect them with leaders and forward-thinking people within the advertising and media industry to ensure their presence at the festival is fruitful.

Through crowdfunding, Cephas Williams hopes to raise £30,000 to take at least 3 Black creatives to Cannes Lions alongside his team. Cephas Willaims says: “When I was in Cannes Lions 2019, I genuinely felt like the odd one out. As much as I appreciate efforts to try and make forums like Cannes more inclusive, from my personal experience it’s going to take people like myself who have a direct connection to the communities we represent, taking action and using our own platform and money to help drive change in this space. I may not have much, but with what I do have I want to give back and pay it forward.”

The Black creatives will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Cannes Lions 2022, including accommodation, travel, festival passes and £250 spending money. If you are a Black creative or know someone who would like the opportunity to accompany Cephas Williams and his team to this year’s Cannes Lions. Please apply here. Cephas Williams and his team will be shortlisting the Black creatives across this period. The application deadline is Sunday 22nd May 2022, 11:59pm.

Cephas Williams has pledged £10,000 of his own money to support this mission and is encouraging those within his network and beyond to contribute in whatever way they can to help reach the goal. No amount is too small and no amount is too big.

Cephas Williams, Founder of the Black British Network, said:

“I’m keen to up the number of Black creatives I take to Cannes each year and if at my level as 1 person, I can put down £10,000 to support this mission, I challenge all the leaders within my network with budgets in the millions and personal funds of their own to join me on this journey, to really put their resources and ‘money where their mouth is’ and to engineer this change in a way that is organised, collective and speaks to legacy. “ said Cephas Williams. “If we want to see this industry change in the next 10 – 20 years, it starts from us not just inviting people to the party, and not just inviting them to dance, but giving them the floor to curate the music they’re dancing to and authentically contribute to the experience. If we only ever invite people that don’t look like the majority to the party to attend and take pictures, the party will forever be controlled by a selective group of people.”

Cephas Williams is a campaigner and speaker committed to centralising Black representation and uniting communities and organisations to deliver long-lasting change. He is at the forefront of driving change towards/against systemic racism and is keen to help engineer opportunities that speak to legacy and change as opposed to charity.

“I know what it’s like growing up as a Black person in the UK with little or no knowledge of forums such as Cannes and no access. I can speak from that experience and now I can do something about it.” said Cephas Williams.

If you are an organisation and would like your Black staff members to accompany Cephas and his team in Cannes, please email [email protected] directly.

To join Cephas on this mission and contribute, visit his crowdfunding page online at https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/cephas-williams-takes-black-creatives-to-cannes