The Effie Lions Foundation launched a fully funded, eight-month fellowship called Voices of the Future in April, selecting 12 college and graduate students for training in marketing, leadership, and artificial intelligence. The inaugural cohort was chosen from more than 200 applicants across 10 countries.

The program will provide instruction in marketing fundamentals including strategy, creativity, media, and effectiveness, alongside leadership, communication, and the art of selling ideas. A third focus area covers AI skills. The fellowship includes a trip to the Cannes Lions festival and concludes with paid apprenticeships at global agencies and leading brands. Frederique Covington Corbett, dean of the program, will lead fellows through their week at the Lions festival.

"A degree isn't enough to get you into the industry anymore. The entry level roles require two years of experience. You have to have networks, and you have to have AI fluency," said Allison Knapp Womack, CEO of the Effie Lions Foundation. Womack described Voices of the Future as a "structural answer to a structural problem," built around a "three-pronged" skills approach. "In this new AI world, soft skills are the new hard skills," she added.

Adobe is the presenting sponsor of the program and helped shape the curriculum through the Adobe Digital Academy. Lara Balazs, executive vice president and CMO at Adobe, said the program is "designed to equip fellows with the marketing skills that are in highest demand right now and the opportunity to immediately apply them." Balazs said, "Those who thrive are the ones who stay curious, challenge their own assumptions, and lean into change even when it's uncomfortable."

Magda Pawelec, senior director and head of brand marketing at Whirlpool, is among the mentors in the program. She said strong mentorship played a major role in her own development, and she is encouraging fellows to stay proactive, ask questions, and "be bold."

"The market is much more competitive, but also much more complex. Every day is an ongoing transformation, and young people need to keep up as they can lose their relevance so quickly," Pawelec said.