Dentsu Webchutney and Indian Creative Women launch ‘The Ad Fellows Returnship’

Dentsu Webchutney, in partnership with Indian Creative Women has launched a talent development initiative, ‘The Ad Fellows Returnship’. The 30-day back-to-work programme for mothers is the agency’s effort to open up roles in advertising for ones who are not confident about making a comeback in the industry. 

 

It is open to mothers who have been part of the industry previously and are looking to rejoin. 

 

The selected ones will undergo a month-long learning experience and will be paired with creatives at Dentsu Webchutney and the Indian Creative Women network, to equip themselves to be industry-ready. 

 

The companies have collaborated to develop a new syllabus, along with teaching techniques, with modules on confidence building and digital creative. 

 

The Dentsu Webchutney team said, “We believe in the power of perspectives to make ideas stronger. Diversity in talent will always lead to more diverse work and following up on our success in making advertising open for everyone from Gen Z, to internet obsessives, to people in other industries, we’re excited to take this next step and welcome moms to Dentsu Webchutney. The program has been chartered by a passionate woman-strong team that believes more mothers need to put their lives experiences on the table. We’ve certainly got a long way to go ourselves but we’re very proud to partner with Indian Creative Women and take this much overdue step forward.”

 

The team at Indian Creative Women added, “Women face several systemic and structural challenges that get in the way of them growing into senior leadership roles. Our industry isn’t doing enough to retain them, specifically mothers. A woman is still blamed if she quits the industry after becoming a mother. There’s simply no organisational support for her to succeed. Dentsu Webchutney’s 'The Ad Fellows Returnship' is a small step in the right direction and should be a great example of what other agencies can follow. This program is hugely influenced by Harshada Thakurdesai, a creative mom and group creative director of team Indian Creative Women.”

 

The program is free of cost, with the virtual learning program to begin on 1 July, 2021. Applications will be open from 1 June, 2021 up to 10 June, 2021.