Cephas Williams to take more Black creatives to Cannes this year

Cephas Williams is currently raising money to take as many Black creatives to Cannes Lions Festival 2022 who wouldn't ordinarily have the access or opportunity to do so.

With all the contributions so far, Williams’ has raised over £34,000 reaching over 100% of the £30,000 target. 

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. 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. 

The Black creatives will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Cannes Lions 2022, including accommodation, travel, festival passes and £250 spending money in addition to their membership to Soho House. 

Cephas Williams is a campaigner and speaker committed to centralising the Black proposition and uniting communities and organisations to deliver long-lasting change. He is at the forefront of driving change and dismantling systemic racism. Williams’ is keen to help engineer opportunities that speak to legacy and change as opposed to charity and is currently encouraging those within his network and beyond to contribute in whatever way they can to help reach the £30,000 goal. 
 

Williams 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.” 

Williams continued: “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.”. 

To join Cephas on this mission and contribute, visit his crowdfunding page online here. 

Williams is open to connecting with leaders and organisations that would like to support him and the Black creatives while in Cannes so if you or your organisation would like to get involved, please email [email protected] directly. Equally, you can fill out the form on Williams’ website here. 

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#BlackCreativeInCannes

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