Mira Kaddoura is founder of Red & Co., a female- & minority-owned boutique strategic & creative consultancy that helps brands evolve into their best future selves. Red&Co. created “Made with Code,” one of Google’s important initiatives to diversify the tech industry that resulted in 5 million girls coding six months after launch & resulted in a whole program at Google. Red & Co.’s successes also include Netflix’s lauded brand campaign, “Make Room,” that positioned Netflix as a champion of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion & became Netflix’s most successful brand campaign from an earned media perspective. Recently, Red & Co. recently launched a Babyganics Brand Refresh “Here’s to Perfectly Imperfect Parenting” to challenge the category and kill the myth of perfect parent once & for all. Red & Co.'s clients have also included lululemon, New Belgium Brewing, adidas, Planned Parenthood, Diageo, Method, Nike Brand Jordan, Solace, Transcend, Kendra Scott, Golden Gate University and most recently Theya Healthcare, Coop Home Goods & Liquid I.V.
Mira got started at Wieden+Kennedy, Nike’s long time advertising agency, creating award-winning work for Nike, The Girl Effect & Travel Oregon being mentored by people like Dan Wieden, David Kennedy & Jim Riswold. A staunch advocate of female leadership and diversity, equity & inclusion, Mira has written numerous op-eds and spoken at industry conferences & organizations like 3% Conference, Creative Mornings, ADCOLOR, Parsons New School, Google Spotlight Series and Do Lectures. Her TEDx Talk “How women can change the world by asking ‘Why not me?’” received a standing ovation from 4000 people.
Late in 2022, Mira won the “Change Agent” award by ADCOLOR that celebrates & advocates diversity in the creative & technology industries. In the same year, she also won Inc Magazine “Top 100 Female Founders”, Campaign US “Purpose Pioneer” that recognizes Purpose & Cause-driven work, “Female Frontier” that recognizes the most progressive & boundary-pushing women in the marketing & advertising industries, & Think NorthWest “Marketing All-Stars”. In 2019, Mira was awarded Ad Age’s “Women to Watch" & Adweek’s “Creative 100” alongside Lebron James & Billie Eilish and Portland Advertising Federation’s “Ad Person of the Year”. Her work has also won numerous awards such as Cannes Lions, TED’s Ads Worth Spreading, D&AD Pencils, Effies, Clios, Communications Arts and Webbys. She’s also been featured on Good Morning America, in NYT, Fast Company, The Atlantic, CNBC, CNN, BBC and other media platforms.
She is known for her conceptual interactive art projects that challenge rigid cultural assumptions around feminism & biology as well as projects that highlight the media’s control on what we think is our individual point of view.
Her philanthropic efforts include, but are not limited to, sitting on the board of Portland Institute of Contemporary Art that makes room for underrepresented artists, Dubai Institute of Design & Innovation supported by MIT and Parsons School of Design and 600 & Rising a non-profit & advocacy group whose mission is to dismantle systemic racism & advocate for Black talent in marketing, advertising and public relations.
Mira is an Egyptian-born Lebanese Palestinian fluent in Arabic, French and English. Her passions are her family, her transformational individual & collective justice & healing work & learning to cook her mamas love-filled food. She sees nature as her greatest teacher. As an Arab immigrant, she’s most proud to be challenging the status quo in everything she does & especially proud to be raising three American, multicultural, multiracial and multilingual daughters in an ever-evolving America.
You can follow her at @mirakaddoura & keep your eyes peeled for something special she’s launching late 2023.
Mira is a powerful force of good who brings a unique blend of moxie and humanness to everything she touches. A global citizen who is comfortable challenging the status quo and inviting a new aperture of opportunity.
"As a partner Mira is as passionate as she is creative and really understands that true social change has to happen at all levels and in every way possible."
"We had the honor and pleasure of bringing in Mira Kaddoura to connect with our team specifically on the topics of creative empowerment, confidence and connection. Mira BLEW US AWAY. It felt like we had not only a highly-decorated industry veteran in our midst, but also an empathic badass who just understood us. Mira is no stranger to adversity and graciously shared her wisdom on how we can find ease in the moments of uncomfortable growth. She also encouraged us to identify and write down our values so it’s easier to align with brands and opportunities that share our interests - a profound exercise that’s simple, but not easy. Mira’s encouragement and presence made us all feel like a better industry and world IS POSSIBLE. She’s proof that leadership CAN BE heart-led; proof that we CAN BE our whole selves. We can be kind, care about the world and do important and impactful things while on this planet. Mira is limitless and all who get to witness her in her glory is incredibly fortunate."
"Sitting down for Mira’s TED talk I was expecting a heavy dose of creative inspiration, but what unfolded was so much more. Deeply personal and at the same time wholly relatable, Mira’s talk left me — and the whole audience — open to the possibility of ‘Why not me?!’. Such a simple and powerful offering to believe in oneself and reframe challenges, whether creative or not."
"Earlier this year Mira spoke at an agency meeting I hosted which included all North American offices. She was inspiring, engaging, thoughtful, and empowering. The positive feedback I received about Mira's talk lasted for weeks. People were sending me messages to thank me, saying things like, "I can't believe how good that was," or "What an inspiration!" and even, "I want to be just like her." She has the unique combination of being both powerful and gentle. Her unique perspectives and viewpoints make her a standout speaker with a message that the world needs to hear. I would pay money to listen to her all day, every day."
"Mira’s gift to Parsons’s AAS fashion marketing student’s was fluid and subtle. Some artists drop the mic. Others, like Mira, pass it on and share the stage. Her gifts hit hard too and lit us up! For example, sharing her journey making “Made w/ Code” with Google blew student’s hearts & minds. It dropped gritty, day to day skills for young marketers to build a solid tool kit. Nebulous topics like following clues, creating community, & trusting a project’s journey were resolved with detailed examples. These gems were particularly valuable to students because it shifted them from scarcity “What’s the right way Mira?!” to abundance, “Listen carefully, craft, then share your work. There is no right way.” Finally, her personal journey from agency dream job burn-out to building Red & Co. left us glowing. Learning to love challenges, mindful living & family 1st ground her to get up, play, work & step curiously every day."
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