Debbi Vandeven

Debbi Vandeven is global CCO at VML, delivering contemporary integrated work to clients worldwide, including Colgate-Palmolive, Dell, Ford, The Coca-Cola Company and Wendy’s. Debbi’s creative philosophy is to combine human imagination with technology for a human-first approach. It’s at the heart of VML’s mission to bring brand experience, commerce, and customer experience together to create connected brands that drive value for clients.

VML has experienced unprecedented growth and recognition under her leadership, earning accolades from every top international award show, including the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity—receiving more than 550 Lions, including Titanium, Glass, and 10 coveted Grand Prix awards—as well as ADC, ANDYs, Clios, Communication Arts, D&AD, Gerety, Effies, Loeries, The London International Awards (LIA), NYF, One Show, Spikes Asia, and Webby Awards.

In 2026, Debbi’s leadership helped VML earn No. 2 Creative Network of the Year at Cannes Lions—the highest ranking in agency history—following top network finishes from 2022–2025. Debbi ranked #1 globally at Cannes Lions and The One Club, building on top CCO recognitions in 2025 and 2024. She helped VML land on Fast Company’s 2026 Best Workplaces for Innovators, be named Campaign’s 2026 Global Agency Network of the Year and receive Agency Network of the Year at the New York Festivals for the second consecutive time. 

Debbi has presided over top international juries, including Cannes Lions (2024 Titanium jury president, 2020/2021 Social & Influencer jury president and 2018 Entertainment jury president), Ad Age Creativity (2021 work jury chair), ADC (2018 jury chair), ANDYs, Clios (2026 digital/mobile & experience/activation jury president, 2019 direct and experiential/events jury chair and 2016 digital jury chair), D&AD (2020 experiential jury president), Loeries (2022 jury chair for film and film craft and 2014 jury chair for digital), One Show Interactive, and Spikes Asia (2019 Entertainment and Music jury chair). She’s graced the main stage at Cannes and the Loeries in Africa/the Middle East, SXSW Sydney, and led sessions of The One Club Creative Leaders Retreat.

A strong supporter of initiatives advancing women in creative leadership, Debbi was named to Involve and Yahoo Finance’s Heroes Women Role Model List in 2022 and received the Female Frontier Award from Campaign US in 2021. She earned the 2020 Ad Age CCO of the Year and has been recognized on Adweek’s Creative 100, Ad Age’s “Women to Watch” list, and Business Insider’s “30 Most Creative People in Advertising.”