FCB Canada chief creative officer Nancy Crimi-Lamanna has accomplished something only a few Canadian creatives have ever managed: jury president at the prestigious Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, which turns 70 this year.

She will head the Creative Commerce Lions, which recognize “the innovative and creative approach to online and offline commerce, payment solutions and transactional journeys.” FCB Canada won a pair of Lions in this category last year—a Silver for “Dream Drop” for Lotto Max, and a Bronze for Bank of Montreal’s “Gear Up.”

This will be Crimi-Lamanna’s fourth time as a Cannes Lions juror, but her first time as a jury president. She has also served on juries for The One Show and Clios, and last year was jury president of Creative Writing for Advertising at the D&AD Awards.

She joins only a handful of Canadians to have served as jury presidents in Cannes, including Taxi co-founder Paul Lavoie (who became the first Canadian to head a jury when he was selected to head up the Radio Lions in 2010), two-time jury president Judy John (Direct Lions in 2015, PR Lions in 2022) and Pirate’s Tom Eymundson (president of the Radio Lions jury in 2016).

“As you can imagine, it’s an incredible honour to be selected as jury president and work with a diverse group of creative leaders over the week to set the bar and way forward for creativity in commerce,” said Crimi-Lamanna in an email to The Message. “It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly.”

She said she’s excited to lead this particular jury, since there has been an “explosion of creativity” in commerce. [It’s] being gamified, live-streamed and experienced in new ways and in new places across every industry and channel,” she said.

This year’s jury also includes the first-ever jury president from the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, with Impact BBDO’s Ali Rez leading the Print & Publishing Lions jury.

“These individuals represent the rich spread of exceptional talent from across the full spectrum of the creative industry,” said Lions CEO Simon Cook. “The Cannes Lions Jury Presidents play an essential role in upholding the integrity of the Lions as well as setting the creative benchmark for the global industry. We thank them for their unique perspectives, expertise, and experience for the leadership they will bring to the very important task ahead of them.”

The complete jury list is as follows:

Brand Experience & Activation Lions Jury President:
Ari Weiss, Global Chief Creative Officer, DDB Worldwide, Global

Creative B2B Lions Jury President:
Tom Stein, Chairman and Chief Growth Officer, Stein IAS, Global

Creative Business Transformation Lions Jury President:
Justin Peyton, Chief Transformation Officer, Wunderman Thompson, APAC

Creative Commerce Lions Jury President:
Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, Chief Creative Officer, FCB, Canada

Creative Data Lions Jury President
Samantha Hernández Díaz, Chief Strategy Officer, GUT Mexico City, Mexico

Creative Effectiveness Lions Jury President:
Devika Bulchandani, Global CEO, Ogilvy, Global

Creative Strategy Lions Jury President:
Amrita Randhawa, CEO, Publicis Groupe, Singapore & Southeast Asia

Design Lions Jury President:
Quinnton Harris, Co-founder & CEO, Retrospect, USA

Digital Craft Lions Jury President:
Resh Sidhu, Global Director of Arcadia Creative Studio, Snap Inc., Global

Direct Lions Jury President:
Chaka Sobhani, Global Chief Creative Officer, Leo Burnett, Global

Entertainment Lions Jury President:
Brent Anderson, Global Chief Creative Officer, TBWA\Media Arts Lab, Global

Entertainment Lions for Gaming Jury President:
Francine Li, Global Head of Marketing, Riot Games, Global

Entertainment Lions for Music Jury President:
Danielle Hinde, Owner / Executive Producer, Doomsday Entertainment, USA

Entertainment Lions for Sport Jury President:
Rob Doubal, Co-President of McCann London and Joint Chief Creative Officer of McCann UK, McCann London, UK

Film Lions Jury President:
Bruno Bertelli, Global CEO of Le Pub, Global Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Worldwide, Chief Creative Officer of Publicis Groupe Italy, Publicis Worldwide, Global

Glass Lions: The Lion for Change Jury President:
Tea Uglow, Creative Director, Google, APAC

Health & Wellness Lions Jury President:
Mel Routhier, Chief Creative Officer, VMLY&R Chicago, USA

Industry Craft Lions Jury President:
Yoshihiro Yagi, Executive Creative Director, Dentsu Inc., Japan

Innovation Lions Jury President:
Grace Francis, Global Chief Creative and Design Officer, WONGDOODY, Global

Media Lions Jury President:
Christian Juhl, Global CEO, GroupM, Global

Mobile Lions Jury President:
Shannon Washington, US Chief Creative Officer, Connected Communications, R/GA, USA

Outdoor Lions Jury President:
Javier Campopiano, Worldwide Chief Creative Officer at Grey and Global Chief Creative Officer of OpenX From WPP, Grey/OpenX, Global

Pharma Lions Jury President:
Joshua Prince, CEO, Professional Group, Omnicom Health Group, Global

PR Lions Jury President:
Jo-ann Robertson, CEO, Global Markets, Ketchum, Global

Print & Publishing Lions Jury President:
Ali Rez, Chief Creative Officer, Impact BBDO, MENAP

Radio & Audio Lions Jury President:
Tseliso Rangaka, Chief Creative Officer, FCB, South Africa

Social & Influencer Lions Jury President:
Samantha Almeida, Director of Diversity and Content Innovation, Globo, Brazil

Sustainable Development Goals Lions Jury President:
Jean Lin, Chief Culture Officer, Dentsu Group Inc., Global

Dan Wieden Titanium Lions Jury President:
David Droga, CEO & Creative Chairman, Accenture Song, Global

Registration for this year’s Cannes Lions, which runs from June 9-23, opens on Jan. 12, with awards submissions opening on Jan. 19.