Episode 13 - Laurel Stark Akman, CD of The Sims at EA

Our guest this week is Laurel Stark Akman. She is a creative director at EA, overseeing global efforts for The Sims game. 

Which is legendary in and of itself, right? But we hardly even talk about the Sims because Laurel is, first and foremost a passionate agent for change.

Outside of her role at EA sports, she has helped launch BlackTea, a video content series by and for Black Women in advertising created by Dotun Bello and hosted by Michelle Lawrence, presented by Muse by Clio. 

She co-founded Mentorship Matchmaking with Tescia Deak, which is a community and career-building mentorship model for underrepresented groups in advertising.

She and Victoria Rosselli created Our Silent Partner, a reflection on creativity and mental health. And, last but not least, she and Kasia Karolak are on their seventh iteration of Next Creative Leaders, a portfolio competition highlighting work by women and non-binary creatives and presented by The One Club and the 3% Movement. 

And that one is especially relevant because this year’s Next Creative Leaders competition opens this week. So if you’re a female-presenting or non-binary creative, this is for you. And it’s totally free to enter.

Laurel’s Site - laurelstark.com/about

Black Tea - https://musebycl.io/blacktea

Next Creative Leaders - http://nextcreativeleaders.org

Mentorship Matchmaking - https://www.mentorshipmatchmaking.com

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