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, we put together a team of first-rate judges every year, 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. You can help us, by becoming a volunteer!
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.
7 Things that Make us Unique
In the search for the best, we propose a unique format that conveys the competitive but just essence of the festival:
1. Only Gold: Luum only awards Gold medals, there are no second or third place awards. That is to say that the festival only awards medals to the best of the best.
2. Free Registration: Entry registration is free and only winners pay award rights (only gold).
3. Equality: There are no jury presidents, no academic hierarchies. All the judges are top-tier and their evaluations are made at different times during the judging period.
4. Democratic: All participants, regardless of size, brand or nationality, are given the same amount of opportunities to upload their entries at no cost: 4.
5. Fairness: Luum meets gender quotas: 50% of the judges are men and 50% of the judges are women.
6. Diversity: The judges panel is composed primarily of talented global advertising and marketing professionals from well-known associations and communities, however, governmental and non-governmental entities may also participate.
7. Luum Awards is the only festival in the world to reward messages of social, environmental and animal rights awareness.
Meet the juries 2025
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.
Juliana Romano
Content & Creative Director | Galeria.ag, Brazil
In parallel, I am also providing a short bio. Please do not hesitate to reach out should you require any further information.
I’ve always been in love with storytelling and the power of images. I began my career in film and audiovisual production, which opened the door to advertising—a field where I could channel my curiosity and push my creativity to its fullest. Today, I’m a Creative Director specializing in digital platforms—the most democratic and inventive medium, where stories can truly become culture. Along the way, I’ve had the privilege of shaping campaigns for some of Brazil’s most iconic brands, including Itaú and Havaianas.
Sandi Preston
Chief Strategy Officer | Translation, USA
Jennifer Zierenberg
President & Creative Director | Wonderberg Studio, Puerto Rico
Jennifer Zierenberg holds a Master’s degree in Advertising from the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón and has more than 20 years of experience in the creative and advertising industry. She has led campaigns for major international and Puerto Rican brands, including Burger King, Procter & Gamble (Duracell, Gillette, Venus, Charmin, Always, Herbal Essences), Kellogg’s, Destilería Serrallés, Walgreens, Johnny Walker, Coors Light, and Doritos. Her career spans both the corporate and multinational agency world, where she has held creative leadership roles at Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, La Cruz & Associates, and currently at Wonderberg Studio.
Her work has been recognized at the highest levels of the global advertising industry, with awards at Cannes Lions, Effie Awards, Jade Festival, London International Awards, American Advertising Awards, Lüerzer’s Archive, Communication Arts, PHNX Awards, WINA Festival, and more. In 2025, Lüerzer’s Archive ranked her as the #19 illustrator in the world and #1 in Puerto Rico. Today she serves as President and Chief Creative Director of Wonderberg Studio, an independent Puerto Rican agency that has earned over 20 international recognitions in just three years and was nominated as Agency of the Year 2025 by Creativepool in London. She also shares her expertise as a professor at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, inspiring the next generation of creative professionals.
Mahesh Mahalingam
Chief of Staff | UNAIDS, Switzerland
Mahesh Mahalingam has worked on AIDS and public health issues for more than 30 years. He was appointed as Chief of Staff of UNAIDS in October 2023.
He has been with UNAIDS since 2000 and has held several senior leadership positions. Most recently, he was the Senior Adviser in the office of the Executive Director. Previously he served as Director for Communications and Global Advocacy. He has also served as Director in the Office of the UNAIDS Deputy Executive Director, Programme, the UNAIDS Country Director for Lesotho, as the Head of Communications and as a senior adviser on HIV prevention.
He started his career in advertising and broadcasting and revisited his roots as a youth activist and helped to shape India’s first AIDS education programme for young people in 1991. Since then, he has been involved in formulating policies and programmes on HIV prevention and treatment in many Asian and African countries and in shaping policies and public opinion about AIDS globally. He has extensive experience in designing programmes for sex workers, people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men and young people in Asia and Africa.
Before joining UNAIDS, he worked for India’s National AIDS Control Organization, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Development Programme on AIDS-related issues. He was awarded the National Youth Award by India for his work on AIDS and has featured on TedX talks. He has contributed to and led on many of UNAIDS’ award-winning publications.
Arm Buddhaphol
Executive Creative Director | Accenture Song, Thailand
I’ve worked in the advertising industry for over 19 years with various categories of products including Automobile, Finance, Insurance, and FMCG. I started my career at TBWA Thailand, JWT Thailand and after having done a lot of work in the field of traditional advertising, I started to look for new challenges to explore in the digital realm. My decision landed me to join McCann/MRM Thailand and Adapter Digital which was the start of my journey into the world of digital advertising.
I am now a Executive Creative Director at Rabbit’s tale Part of Accenture Song where I have used all my knowledge and experiences into working on transforming our creative team to be able to create new and challenging works. It resulted in putting the agency into the industry’s spotlight through multiple award-winning campaigns in renowned award shows like Clio,NEW YORK FESTIVAL, ONE SHOW, SPIKES ASIA, and ADFEST, AWARD AWARDS and various local awards.

































































































































































































































































































































