Lauren Thornborough and Louise Wilson saw a gap in our industry – and built a village to fill it.
Just over two years ago, the two working mums, with a combined 35 years’ media experience, co-founded The Village, a first-of-its-kind association dedicated to elevating, supporting and advocating for parents and parents-to-be in the Australian media industry.
Born from their own experiences of loneliness and the challenges of balancing parenthood with professional ambitions, The Village was created to build a community where working parents could connect, support one another and find practical ways to navigate both career and family life.
WPP Chief People Officer Scott Laird – one of the industry leaders Lauren and Louise brought together to form The Village’s advisory board – says the pair came together to tackle a problem experienced by so many, but addressed by few.
“Their idea was built on a clear insight: every working parent needs a village. And that’s exactly what they built. By bringing competitors and agencies together under The Village, they turned their own experiences into a thriving community of working parents and carers who have rallied together on a platform of support, advocacy, and change,” he says.
“Their passion for keeping great talent in our industry is inspiring, and this recognition is hugely deserved.”
From the outset, Lauren and Lousie had a bigger ambition: to drive industry-wide change and help address the retention challenges facing media. Research they commissioned ahead of The Village’s launch found that 80% of surveyed parents in media considered the mental load a barrier to peak performance.
For Lauren and Louise, the finding reinforced the need for parents to connect, share experiences and find better ways to balance parenthood and career aspirations.
In just two years they have turned that insight into action, creating a visible and growing community through regular workshops, peer-to-peer mentoring and an online network – and bringing greater attention to the conversation around flexibility, inclusion and support for working parents.
“It’s incredible how much they’ve achieved in a short timeframe,” says Greg “Sparrow” Graham, another early member of The Village advisory board. “They’ve done a great job in getting the industry to pay greater attention to what is a really important issue, and they were really smart to bring sponsors onboard, which has helped take their message out to more people.”
In short, he says: “They are both powerhouses."
Clare Tsubono, Head of Media AUNZ at Lion, agrees Lauren and Louise’s impact has been swift. “The Village has supercharged the conversation about flexibility. They have helped to support and keep parents in our industry; and along the way created a group where peers can meet, learn and network,” Tsubono says.
“For too long our industry has lost mature, capable people due to the perceived impossibility of flexible work in advertising. Lauren and Lou have worked really hard to reverse this and have had a valuable and meaningful impact. I congratulate them!”
Venessa Hunt, CEO of Fixer & Future, credits the pair’s inclusive approach and big-picture perspective for the reach of their work.
"Lou and Lauren’s approach refused to make this linear,” she says. “Most support systems for parents default to one story, a woman stepping back from her career while her partner keeps climbing, but they built something that actually reflects the full picture, bringing in solo mums like me whose challenges don’t come and go but just keep evolving, alongside working and present dads and even leaders who’ve chosen not to have kids.
“They understood what it takes to make change from all angles. And they did it all while running full time jobs and raising their own families. These two are the epitome of courage and drive.”
For their vision, energy and commitment to creating meaningful change, Lauren Thornborough and Louise Wilson are worthy recipients of the 2026 MFA Industry Contribution Award.