DDB's Becky Morriss Takes Out Prestigious 'Next Creative Leaders' Award

DDB Melbourne creative director, Becky Morriss, has today been announced as a winner
of The One Show’s prestigious 'Next Creative Leaders' 2025 awards. Becky and Phoebe
Sloane were the only Australians to receive the global accolade.

Becky was shortlisted for Next Creative Leaders 2025, joining 120 creatives from across
30 countries in the global competition run by The One Show. The program celebrates
women and non-binary creatives who are shaping the future of the industry. NCL offers a
platform for gender-expansive creatives to showcase their unique vision and make a lasting impact through innovative work and leadership.

Becky has worked passionately to create tangible change for women in the Australian
advertising industry, delivering groundbreaking work and initiatives for DDB Melbourne,
and providing promotional opportunities for the broader sector.

At DDB, Becky's leadership has been pivotal to the agency’s success in recent years.
She has spearheaded some of DDB’s most iconic work, including Jarden’s Creative Index,
Coles’ Great Lengths for Quality campaign and Porsche’s Taycan Arcade, while also
significantly growing the creative department.

In 2024, she launched Hungry Women -- an agency-wide initiative designed to support
female-identifying talent by building visibility, mentorship and community.

Over the past 12 months, Becky has hosted regular mentorship lunches, bringing together more than 35 women across DDB’s creative, strategy, production and client service departments.

The initiative has become a core part of DDB’s DE&I strategy, tackling key challenges like the lack of women in leadership roles and limited peer networks. This year, Becky co-founded Women Who Will -- an industry-wide platform, in partnership with Little Black Book, that spotlights, celebrates and connects inspiring female creatives from across the industry.

Every woman featured nominates others to follow, creating a ripple effect of recognition and visibility.

At the heart of both initiatives is Becky's belief in collective progress. Through action,
openness, and advocacy, she is helping build a more inclusive creative industry where
women can see themselves, and each other, at the top.

Becky is also a member of The Aunties, Australia’s largest mentoring movement in the
advertising and creative industry, and was named as a Champion of Change finalist in this
year’s B&T Women In Media Awards.

Commenting on the award,Becky said, “I’m incredibly honoured to be recognised as a
Next Creative Leader. It’s a recognition that deeply aligns with why I started Hungry
Women; to make space for women who want more: more leadership, more connection,
more visibility, and more women at the top. 

“The biggest challenge for me has been carving a path into leadership without a roadmap
that looked like me. In 14 years, I’ve worked under one female creative director. That absence can be deafening, and you start to question whether there’s really a place for you at the table.

“That’s shaped me in two ways. First, it’s given me resilience, I’ve learned to back myself
even when I felt invisible. Second, it’s fuelled my drive to change the system. Founding
Hungry Women and Women Who Will, mentoring through The Aunties, and teaching
AWARD School -- those aren’t just side projects. They’re survival tactics turned into
leadership principles.

“To me, that’s leadership - seeing a gap and filling it, not for yourself, but for the ones
coming next.”

DDB Melbourne chief creative officer, Psembi Kinstan, said, “Becky has been making her
mark at DDB for more than a decade and now her ‘legend status’ is official.

“At the heart of her efforts is her belief in collective progress. Through action, openness and advocacy, she is helping build a more inclusive industry, where women can see themselves -- and each other -- at the top.”

Celebrating its 10th year, Next Creative Leaders was created in partnership with The 3%
Movement as the industry’s only free portfolio competition that identifies, celebrates and provides a global platform for talented women, non-binary and trans creatives, who are
making their mark on the world, with both their work and unique creative leadership.

This year’s entries were judged by an esteemed jury of 39 top creatives from 21 countries,
who assessed each entrant’s portfolio of creative work and submission on how they have
pushed the industry forward and made a positive contribution in terms of diversity,
mentoring and advocacy.

With more than 14 years’ experience in the Australian advertising industry, Becky has
worked with a range of high-profile clients including Coles, Kmart, Porsche, Dulux Group,
Telstra, Westpac, and Mars.

Her creative portfolio includes The Creative Index -- a bold initiative she developed and executed to reshape how Australians perceive the value of creativity; Everyone is Welcome at Our Table -- a Coles Supermarket and World Pride collaboration, created to celebrate Coles’ LGBTQIA+ community with a show-stopping Mardi Gras float; You’re In Good Hands -- the rebranding of Coles Credit Cards and Insurance, invigorating the brand with personality, warmth and longevity; and What I Carry With Me, a film created to support the re-release of the Fressko Boobie Cup, in partnership with the Mother’s Day Classic Foundation.

Each winner of Next Creative Leaders 2025 receives a year’s complimentary membership to The One Club, with opportunities to serve on juries for one of The One Club’s awards
program, and a complimentary ticket to a One Club professional development conference.

Winners will also have their work showcased on The One Club website and social channels.

The Next Creative Leaders winners list can be viewed here.