Final entry deadline
(4 submissions free of registration fees):
October 2, 2026
Online Judging:
October 7–10, 2026
Winners Notified:
October 12, 2026
Gathering of Judges
(Geneva, Switzerland):
October 29, 2026
Volunteer Experience:
November 19-20, 2026
About us
The idea for the Luum Awards came together during the pandemic, inspired by the acts of solidarity seen around the world at that time. The festival organizers created the Luum Awards to recognize the creative works that are promoting a better world, firmly believing in the power of communicators to serve as global change agents.
To promote this goal, every year, we put together a team of first-rate judges, made up of leaders of NGOs, brands, and advertising agencies, to evaluate creative and strategic pieces that promote messages related to making the world a better place.
We are the first global creative festival to go zero-paper. Additionally, since 2024, we have held our events in host cities other than Switzerland, where the festival is registered, choosing instead to host our events in the Global South, where we can help communities in need with investment and social/environmental volunteer efforts. By becoming a volunteer, you can help us achieve our goal!
When you participate in Luum you help us support in-need communities. For example, in 2024, we hosted an event in Peru’s Sacred Valley, which resulted in USD $60,000 in direct and indirect investments entering the local economy in a primarily impoverished indigenous region of Peru.
News
The global initiative launched by the Luum Awards
Thousands of associations, communities and small and medium-sized NGOs struggle day-in and day-out to address the world’s social and environmental challenges, without the help of communications agencies or marketing experts. This undoubtedly affects their ability to fulfill their objectives.
Wakii seeks to accompany these NGOs on their missions, so that, with appropriate strategies they can secure more resources and with creativity they can continue to change lives through more powerful messaging.
There are many “invisible” causes that need our attention, while everyone focuses on the same “trending” issues. For example, we need more people talking about forestry, cultural protection of displaced indigenous communities, education for children with visual impairments, lifestyle support for people with spina bifida, care for homeless elderly populations, etc.
If you belong to an agency or brand, you can become a global change agent.
Changing lives with Luum Awards and Wakii
Luum & Wakii 2026 Venues
Hilton Convention Center (Geneva, Switzerland):
Where we will evaluate the festival’s best submissions
Costa Rica:
The Luum Awards has selected Costa Rica as the host country for its 2026 awards ceremony and volunteer experience.
Meet our 2026 judges
We are convinced that creative communications can help us make the world a better place. We CAN be global change agents! To achieve this, we have assembled a first-rate team of festival judges, made up of leaders from NGOs, advertising companies, and creative agencies from around the world.
Tim Chapman
Creative Director | Publica, New Zealand
Currently, I’m the Creative Director at Publica in New Zealand.
I’ve been working in advertising since 1999, building my career across agencies in Australia, the USA, the UK and New Zealand. Along the way I’ve built brands and campaigns for Crocs, LVMH, Unilever, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Illinois Office of Tourism, The Magnificent Mile Chicago, the Chicago Wolves, Expedia, Brand USA, and the University of California, among others.
My work has received awards at both national and international festivals.
Laura Rodríguez Laín
Cofundadora PV Group, Directora de Marketing & Comunicaciones | Great Place To Work® México, Caribe y Centroamérica
Laura is a senior executive specializing in marketing strategy, strategic communications, commercial development, and business growth, with more than 25 years of experience across Latin American markets. Her career includes extensive experience with multinational corporations and leading brands such as Shell Royal Dutch, Total Energies, McDonald’s, and Great Place To Work®. She combines strategic thinking, market insight, and strong execution capabilities, with a proven ability to translate business opportunities into actionable, measurable, and sustainable strategies. Throughout her career, she has led strategic planning, brand development, market expansion, new product and project development, channel and distributor management, pricing strategy, portfolio management, and regional growth initiatives.
Rodrigo Costas
Chief Creative Officer | Publicidad Comercial MullenLowe Guatemala
Chief Creative Officer at Publicidad Comercial MullenLowe Guatemala, part of GCC, the largest communications group in Central America and the Caribbean.
Between 2024 and 2026, he positioned the agency among the region’s 10 most creative agencies, according to the Ranking Crema. He previously founded and led his own agency as Chief Creative Officer and founding partner of Mostro Agency. Before that, he held leadership roles at Ogilvy Guatemala, BBDO Guatemala, Maruri Grey, and Key Publicidad, having started his career at CamaraTBWA.
He has worked for brands including DirecTV, Tortrix, Doritos, Ron Zacapa, Caterpillar, Shell, Gatorade, Claro, Jeep, Corona Cero, Michelob, and Bayer. His work has been recognized at Cannes, D&AD, Clio, Effie Latam, El Sol, LIA, FIAP, and El Ojo de Iberoamérica.
Mauricio Guerrero
Americas Chief Creative Officer | LLYC
Creative professional with 19 years of experience in the advertising industry. He has led agencies in Colombia, Peru, and Mexico, transforming them into successful agencies with strong creative reputations.
Throughout his career, he has received recognition at some of the industry’s most prestigious festivals, including Cannes Lions, D&AD, The One Show, Clio, LIA, El Ojo de Iberoamérica, and the Effie Awards. His work has also been featured in publications such as Time Magazine, Mashable, Forbes, Contagious, and Adweek.
Mauricio was part of the team that helped position Ogilvy Colombia as a global creative benchmark. Together with his team, he helped Ogilvy become the top Latin American agency at Clio and The One Show, as well as one of the 35 best agencies in the world according to WARC.
He also helped establish Ogilvy as one of the most awarded Colombian agencies at Cannes over the past decade, as well as the country’s top agency at El Ojo de Iberoamérica for seven consecutive years.
He was recognized as Colombia’s Best Creative Director in 2015, 2016, and 2018 by El Ojo de Iberoamérica.
He later served as CCO at Ogilvy Peru, where he led the agency’s restructuring, achieving double-digit growth while fostering a creative and innovative culture that strengthened the agency’s position in the Peruvian market.
His most recent position was Executive Creative Director at Grey Mexico, where he worked alongside the executive board to lead the company’s transformation. Under their joint leadership, in just two years Grey Mexico became one of the country’s most awarded agencies, one of the standout offices within the Grey Latam network, Mexico’s top agency and a Top 9 agency in the region at El Ojo de Iberoamérica, Mexico’s most awarded agency at the LIA, and a Top 5 agency at Círculo Creativo. After a seven-year drought, he and his team also brought Cannes Lions back to the agency.
He is currently Americas CCO at LLYC, where he leads creative across the entire region.
Alana Dunsmore
Communications and Awareness Manager | Cancer Support, Switzerland
Alana Dunsmore is a marketing and communications professional with more than seven years of experience working with international, advocacy-driven organisations in the health and non-profit sectors. Most recently, she was the Communications and Awareness Manager at Cancer Support Switzerland, where she led multi-channel campaigns, digital communications, and awareness initiatives.
She has a particular interest in digital communications, storytelling and creating purposeful campaigns that connect organisations with their audiences. She brings experience across social media, content, email marketing, websites and integrated campaigns, as well as a data-driven approach to understanding what works and why.
