James Lee was a well-respected writer in the advertising industry who won countless national and international awards throughout his career. He passed away suddenly due to an undetected heart defect at the age of 37.
Shortly after his passing The James Lee Foundation was formed by a partnership of advertising agencies, the AAABC, and a collection of James’ friends and family. Knowing James inspired many people to push the boundaries in creativity, developing a creative scholarship in his name felt like a fitting way to honour him.
The Foundation keeps James’ legacy alive each year by awarding a scholarship to an emerging creative talent who shows the same passion and tenacity that James did.
How to Apply
- Eligibility
- Application
- Judging
The scholarship is open to emerging creative talent from across Canada wanting to enter the advertising industry.
Entrants must be non-professional Canadian residents over the age of 16 who are either in the process of graduating or continuing their education.
All fields of creativity related to the advertising community will be considered (e.g. writers, art directors, film makers, recording artists, illustrators, digital artists, etc.).
Upload a link to a portfolio that you host with a maximum of 10 pieces to the JLF website.
In addition to your portfolio, please provide your contact information and a paragraph ( max. 1000 characters ) explaining how the funds would help you to pursue your creative path.
Portfolio submissions will be accepted online from Aug.1st to Sept.15.
- The scholarship will be awarded on the basis of the portfolio that demonstrates the most original thinking and craftsmanship according to the judging panel.
- A judging panel made up of a representative from each of the active founding member agencies and James Lee’s family will select the winner from the pool of submitted portfolios online.
- Periodically, guest judges will be invited to participate.
- Each member of the judging panel will score the portfolios online on a scale from 1–10.
- Each Judge will award a score of 10 to their favourite, a score of 1 to their least favourite, and score the others accordingly. A meeting or conference call with the judging panel will confirm the winner for the year.
- Judging will be completed by October 15.