Adrian Gregory, Co-founder and Chair, DataIQ: “Carolyn is without doubt one of the most passionate, genuine, and authentic leaders I have worked with. She is someone who has made a considerable difference in helping to build the data and AI profession we all love today.
“I first got to know Carolyn through our work for the DMA and IDM on their Data Councils 20 years ago, including developing the first qualification in data management and, importantly, the DMA’s Creative Data Academy aimed at attracting talented students into the data profession. It is hard to think of a more deserving winner of the DataIQ Lifetime Achievement Award, in honour of Professor Derek Holder, the founder of the IDM.”
Few leaders have shaped the intersection of data, creativity and inclusion as profoundly as Carolyn E. Stebbings. Over three decades, she has built a career defined by operational rigour, authenticity and an unwavering belief in people.
After university, Carolyn took what she describes as a “millennial-style” route before it was fashionable: half a dozen roles in her first decade of professional work as she sought her niche. She found it in an owner-managed direct marketing agency where she discovered her passion of using data to drive results. This became the foundation for a career across IPG, WPP and Omnicom, where she led transformational work for clients ranging from Motorola at the height of the RAZR era to World Vision and its mission to end poverty.
Carolyn has led teams of all sizes embedding processes that deliver commercial growth while empowering people to thrive. She calls authenticity her greatest asset, and it is evident in the loyalty she has inspired across her career and the impact she consistently delivers.
In recent years, she’s been a driving force in making DEI a business imperative. She launched Table Makers, a sponsorship programme connecting junior and mid-level talent with senior leaders to accelerate their visibility and progression. She also created RAPP’s Neighbourhood, a collective giving voice to LGBTQ+, race, disability, mental health, and parenting communities, shaping policies through lived experience.
Beyond RAPP, she has served as Global Co-Chair for Omniwomen, sits on the Global Advisory Board for Women in Tech, and has influenced talent policy through the IPA’s Leadership Group. Her DEI work has helped secure Campaign’s Customer Engagement Agency of the Year three years running and the IPA Platinum accreditation for investment in people.
This is being enhanced with Carolyn getting internationally certified as a life and executive coach and building out a portfolio career with NED and Advisor roles. As her career moves into a new phase, she is putting her years of experience as a people centric leader and driver of operational excellence to good use to serve others.
Her leadership remains deeply personal. Early in her career, Carolyn was told she lacked the “right accent or education” for agency life – an assessment that was swiftly withdrawn once her ability to build trust and deliver results became undeniable. Furthermore, Carolyn is an elective single mother to twin boys, and she describes them as her reason to “stay positive and keep learning every day.”
Carolyn’s recognition within the data and AI industry speaks for itself and bolsters her position as recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award: nine-time DataIQ Top 100 honouree, IDM Fellow, IPA iList winner, Campaign Tech Diversity Advocate, and Leading Light in Kindness.
For 30 years, she has shown what authentic leadership looks like when data and empathy meet. This Lifetime Achievement Award celebrates not only her professional excellence but her enduring impact on the people and culture of the data-driven industry.
