4 rising stars who broke the mould

We created the Rising Star category to honour the young women leaders who have impressed and are well on their way to becoming future leaders. These women, under 30 years of age, have set themselves apart from their peers, have shown early success in their field, and are the next generation of women leaders in the industry. Each took home accolades at our innagural Women Leading Change Awards.

Jeraldine Phneah

Regional account manager, Socialbakers

Jeraldine has been at the forefront of her company’s global expansion, and at the age of 21, founded her own organisation—Creatives for Causes—a pro bono creative network that matches creatives with charities who require their video, photography, copywriting and graphic design services.

Emily Loi

COO, X Social Group

Emily has led the constant reinvention of her company since its inception, moving beyond commoditized content creation offerings, and into embedded social influencer and KOL campaigns. X Social is the embodiment of Emily's vision for social media marketing.

Smita Salgaonkar

General manager of programmatic, PHD India

Smita spent six months single-handedly converting 42 Unilever brands to programmatic, building business cases and radical innovations for each. Through her focused efforts, Smita and Unilever led the Indian media industry into a new chapter of programmatic advertising.

Samyukta Yatish

Client solutions director, VML Singapore

In four and a half years at VML, Samyukta has gone from business executive to client solutions director, and in 2016 changed the typical client-agency dynamic to one where VML is considered a partner in decision-making processes. In 2016, she was selected to be a part of WPP's first ever WILL (Women in Leadership Lessons), powering a community of female leaders in the industry.

View the Rising Stars shortlist or all of this year's WLCA winners.