From top left: BPG Group – Rua Youssef & Rayana El Masri; Burson – Raneem Saleeh & Youssef Yammine; Cosmopole Consultancy – Nithin Narayanan & Meena Shahin; Gambit Communications – Tala Maass & Hana Sabri; Seven Media – Neimat ElKarib & Tala Abu Eid; The Romans – Cham Alatrach & Katie Bell-WrightPRCA MENA has revealed the six teams that have made it onto the shortlist for the Cannes Young Lions PR Competition.
Last week 23 teams, each consisting of two PR professionals from the region, aged 30 or under, had a pressing 24-hours to respond to a brief set by this year’s humanitarian partner, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
The brief challenged participants to develop a campaign that would raise awareness, increase downloads and drive donations for UNHCR’s Refugee Zakat Fund Mobile App—an innovative platform designed to make Zakat giving more accessible, transparent, and impactful. The brief stated, “our challenge remains increasing awareness of our RZF app, downloads and number of users who donate through the app.”
The final shortlist includes:
- BPG Group – Rua Youssef and Rayana El Masri
- Burson – Raneem Saleeh and Youssef Yammine
- Cosmopole Consultancy – Nithin Narayanan and Meena Shahin
- Gambit Communications – Tala Maas and Hana Sabri
- Seven Media – Neimat ElKarib and Tala Abu Eid
- The Romans – Cham Alatrach and Katie Bell-Wright
“We’re absolutely blown away by the level of creativity and passion that each team has demonstrated in this year’s competition,” said Conrad Egbert, Head of PRCA MENA. “A huge thank you to our esteemed jury for committing their precious time and effort to us and to the UNHCR for partnering with us on such a meaningful brief. Best of luck to the finalists — we look forward to your pitches.”
On 15 April 2025, the shortlisted six teams will present their ideas to the esteemed MENA jury with the winners announced on 16 April 2025. The winning team will go on to officially represent the region in June at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity that will be held in the south of France.
Ahmad Itani, Founder & CEO of Cicero & Bernay Communication Consultancy, Laureline Schwarz, Head of Global Corporate Communication, PR, Public Relations, Al-Futtaim Automotive, Louise Jacobson, Managing Partner at Brazen MENA, Raefah Makki, Head of Individual Giving & Campaigns, UNHCR and Sophie Simpson, Managing Director & Founder of Atteline make up this year’s jury for the region’s Cannes Young Lions PR Competition.
