Jade Chen (Art Direction, 2024) is one of 37 students from around the world to be chosen to participate in the 2023 Roger Hatchuel Student Academy (RHSA) at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity—the largest festival for creative communications, advertising, and related fields, held annually in Cannes, France.
The RHSA is a unique learning experience designed to help students discover the different avenues of the industry, grow their personal networks, and obtain a global, future-oriented perspective.
Participating students were first nominated by partner organizations in their countries and then selected by the global selection panel. This year’s cohort is made up of 37 students representing 29 countries; Chen is the student chosen to represent the United States.
“I’m so thankful to Vann Graves, Ashley Sommardahl, Tom Scharpf, and many more at VCU Brandcenter for this precious and incredible opportunity,” Chen writes. “Thank you also to Shaunda Lambert-Gary (Strategy, 2023) and Marissa Liu (Experience Design, 2021) for your wisdom and guidance throughout the process!” Lambert-Gary and Liu were also selected to participate in this life-changing experience the summers before their second years at the Brandcenter.
Throughout the week-long program, participating students explore the various avenues and creative spaces to which they might matriculate after graduation and are provided myriad opportunities to learn first-hand from the world’s greatest brands, creative minds, and industry leaders. The curriculum covers a wide range of topics including an introduction to the creative industry—client, agency, and beyond; the agile creative process; solving creative briefs; leadership and teamwork; the value of diversity, and more. At the end of the week, students graduate from the classroom and are presented with a certificate.
Chen says she is “looking forward to meeting my wonderful classmates in person, and a week full of inspiration and creative enrichment.”