I’m Belén, an art director from the South of Spain, and living proof that not all Spaniards know how to dance flamenco. Never one to follow the natural path, my experience spans work in a variety of cities – New York, London, Prague, and San Francisco– finding ways to take on social issues with brave, bold and imaginative solutions.

In 2016, I joined Ogilvy in New York City where I worked on The Refugee Nation Project, one of the most awarded campaigns of 2017. That same year, I was ranked as the fifth best art director in the Cannes Festival’s Global Creativity Report. Working on this project I realized the responsibility we have as creatives to solve not just business problems but use our skills and creativity to give voice to those without one, help people share their stories, and ultimately shine light on global issues to drive social change. The Refuge Nation goes beyond advertising. The project has afforded me some amazing experiences including: being part of TEDx London, serving on the Board of Directors for the International Refugee Orchestra, and teaching master classes in design to refugees at the Makers Unite Lab in Amsterdam.

After honing my skills and creation path breaking work at Ogilvy, I moved on to try a newer challenge at Droga5, where I got to work alongside some of the smartest people in the industry to create some of the best work of my career. At Droga5, I also got an opportunity to teach and mentor at the much sought after D5in10 Academy that helps aspiring creatives of diverse backgrounds to become future creative rockstars through a 10 week creative program to solve the lack of diverse talent in the creative industry.

Currently I am a Global Art Director/ACD at WhatsApp - Creative X at Facebook where I get to create simple yet powerful work that is not just culturally relevant but impacts people’s lives and is in tandem with what WhatsApp does organically. I am also a part of the Inclusion and Representation Lens Panel at Facebook, which is responsible for reviewing every piece of work through the lens of diversity, inclusivity and cultural relevance, making sure that it represents our users truthfully.

Outside of my day-to-day with WhatsApp making work that creates social impact, I teach classes at the Miami Ad School. While my initial goal in teaching was to give back to the creative community, mentoring and helping students prepare for their professional careers, I quickly realized I learn as much from them as they do from me. Teaching has made me a better creative director and a better leader.

To me, success is not measured in awards or Super Bowl campaigns. They are important, but they are not the only things to worry about. Where you invest your time, you invest your life, and to me, success is a matter of where and what I’m putting my life into. And that can be helping others thrive, inspiring a single person or a full room, pushing someone towards a place they thought they would never reach. People tend to say that ads won’t change the world. And they are right—Ad’s won’t, but people will.