D&AD names Jo Jackson as chief executive

D&AD has named Jo Jackson, a former chief creative officer at Made.com, as its chief executive, a role that has been vacant for two years.

As chief executive of the education-led creative, design and advertising charity, Jackson has been handed a remit of furthering D&AD's digital strategy and education programmes.

Jackson was chief creative officer at Made.com between 2017 and April 2021, where she led the home retailer's global brand and creative team, including its in-house creative agency offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, London and Paris.
 
Since graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2003, Jackson has held a variety of branding and marketing roles and led creative campaigns for Adidas, Diageo, Diesel and Samsung, among others.

Prior to Made.com, Jackson was global head of content and creative services at Diesel for two years. She also ran the brand consultancy Protein as managing director between 2012 and 2015.

Most recently Jackson co-founded The Flowerhouse, a female-led pub designed to further women's hospitality careers.
 
Tim Lindsay, chairman of D&AD, said: “Jo's experience, entrepreneurialism, energy and creativity are exactly what D&AD needs right now – to augment the considerable skills and experience of the senior team and to take us on the next stage of our journey. The organisation will thrive under her leadership.”

At the start of her career Jackson founded Beyond the Valley, a Soho-based fashion label and boutique for emerging British designers from 2003 to 2012.

Jackson said: “When it comes to creative education, there is a lot more to it than just learning your craft. When I graduated in the early 2000s, there was little to no career support for emerging creatives. We jumped out into the industry and it was sink or swim.

"A lot of things have changed since then to help creative people to go out into the world with confidence, but it's organisations like D&AD that play a pivotal role in plugging these gaps.
 
“Identifying and nurturing genuine talent has been a red thread throughout my own career so I'm incredibly passionate about the educational aspects of D&AD – [its] New Blood and Shift initiatives specifically.”

D&AD has just released its latest Annual, which is in a digital-only format for the third year. In addition to celebrating the winning work from the D&AD Awards it includes interviews with the people behind the Pencils.

Richard Brim, chief creative officer at Adam & Eve/DDB, has now officially taken over as D&AD’s president for 2022/23. 

Jack Renwick, founder and creative director at Jack Renwick Studio, is now deputy president and willl automatically succeed to the presidency in 2023/24.

Brim replaced Rebecca Wright, dean of academic programmes at Central Saint Martins, and has been vice-president for the past year.
 
D&AD said Brim's focus will be on nurturing the next generation of creative people, with a focus on support talent that “isn’t following traditional trajectories and established routes”.
 
Brim said he wants to build on Wright's legacy and further the organisation's role by making the advertising industry "as attractive to the next generation as possible and helping them find employment in it".

He said: “We need to use all of the creative power at our disposal to make this industry appealing to future generations. It’s only when we feel part of something bigger and can take ownership of our work, that it becomes fun, and that’s when the real magic happens – it is the essential precursor to making iconic work."

Former D&AD chief executive Patrick Burgoyne, a one-time editor of Creative Review, stepped down in 2020 as part of a restructure following the financial impact of coronavirus.

At the time, Dara Lynch, who had been chief operating officer for 12 years, took over leading the company. Lynch will now return to her previous role.
 
The organisation has also added two new trustees: Hannah Kelly, who is the curious saboteur at Saboteur, a design studio and a D&AD New Blood Academy 2019 graduate; and Russie Missie, a strategist at Born Social and D&AD Shift London 2019 graduate.

Six new members also joined D&AD's advisory board:

• Tara Ford, chief creative officer, The Monkeys

• Patrick Guerrera, founder and chief executive, Re Design

• Naomi Hirabayashi, graphic designer and art director, Plug-in Graphics

• Natalie Lam, chief creative officer, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, Publicis Group
e
• Jean Lin, global chief executive, creative, Dentsu

• Lisa Smith, executive creative director, Jones Knowles Ritchie