The new category, Human Lens: The Lived Experience, is a category that elevates authentic human experiences, honoring work that is rooted in authentic patient, caregiver, and community experiences. This new category will celebrate storytelling that gives voice to real lives, challenges stereotypes, and fosters empathy, understanding, and connection.

In this series of the Health Pulse, we will get the inside scoop on what strikes a chord with members of our Specialty Jury for this inaugural year. 

Clay's work has earned recognition from the most prestigious names in ad land, including recently winning a Gold at New York Festivals for her campaign Forbidden Fantasies. She has been listed as a top 100 Creative Director in the world and #14 Copywriter in the US by D&AD and Lürzer’s Archive. In the interview below, Clay shares her perspective on the inaugral category and the importance of authentically highlighting patient stories. 

NYFH Awards: Why did you say yes to judging this category specifically — what made you want to be part of it?
Clay MacGuire: The Human Lens: The Lived Experience category asks a critical question: was this shaped by real lived experience? In an era where human-led storytelling is more important than ever, we need a space to celebrate this work.

NYFH Awards: Why do you think the Human Lens category is important right now, and what does recognizing work shaped by real patient and caregiver experiences bring to health communications?
Clay MacGuire: Listening to your audience creates something invaluable: relevance you can’t fake. You can’t test your way into a real human story. You can only invite people into the process, and then get out of the way.

NYFH Awards: Have you worked on something where a patient, caregiver, and/or someone living with disability changed the direction of the work — not just the creative, but an actual decision?
Clay MacGuire: Specificity is universal. When we invite individuals to shape the direction of the work, you can feel the difference.

NYFH Awards: This category recognizes work made with people, not simply about them. What tells you that lived experience genuinely shaped an entry?
Clay MacGuire: Human led work has texture that research alone can’t manufacture. If I review an entry and think “this is a flat approximation of something real,” that’s a tell. If I review it and think “I can feel the soul in this,” that’s the category.

NYFH Awards: Five years from now, what would you want this category to have changed about the industry?
Clay MacGuire: Five years from now, I want “we built this with the people it’s for” to be as commonplace as “we put this through testing.” Standard, expected, table stakes. That’s when you’ll know we made an impact.