The Migrant Woman of the Year Awards recently announced its winners, which included international singer Rita Ora.
The day long conference and awards ceremony aim to celebrate the beauty of diversity and resilience.
250 men and women gathered at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel for the second annual awards. The conference focused on migrant women’s stories of overcoming barriers and achieving success in the UK and was followed by an awards ceremony. The day brought together representatives from over 20 countries and six continents.
Award Winners 2016:
• Renowned Female Achiever – Rita Ora, British Singer and Actress
• Inspiring Woman of the Year – Zenobia Nadirshaw, Head of Psychology at Kensington & Chelsea PCT
• Community Champion – Rehab Jameel, FGM and Human Rights Campaigner
• Entrepreneur – Betty Encinales, Entrepreneur, Director of Becruit Recruitment
• Best Man of the Year – Adam Strong, Corporate Productivity Authority, Author, Speaker and Former Elite Athlete
The voting for the awards was decided through public online votes and a judging panel of 13 members. More than 2,100 votes were cast.
Lirim Greiçevci, Kosovar ambassador in London, received the award on behalf of Rita Ora, and said: “Thank you to those who voted for her and congratulations to Migrant Woman team for the great work that they are doing to promote the values of migrant women in Great Britain.”
Ora’s category has the description: “An individual not born in the UK who has achieved fame through her chosen field, is a role model for their origin, and having a creative influence on others as a respected British citizen.”
Mirela Sula, Founder of Migrant Woman Talks and Editor in Chief of Global Woman magazine, said: “We’re so proud of the achievements of each and everyone involved with this year’s Migrant Woman Conference and Awards. It’s truly humbling to be in the presence of these incredible women from across the world and to celebrate everything they have accomplished in their respective fields.
“We’ve seen the event grow noticeably since its first incarnation, and we can’t wait to see how it will develop in the years to come.”
During the conference part of the day special interviews took place with Gina Lazenby and John Lee, Entrepreneur and author and co-founder of Wealth Dragons, discussing financial freedom and Lina Bourdon interviewed Helen Tse, co-founder of Sweet Mandarin, about her journey to cooking for British Prime Minister David Cameron and the Chinese Premier.
The main panel session was chaired by Mirela Sula and included Nazek Ramadan, originally from Beirut, Lebanon, Founder and Executive Director of Migrant Voice and Zrinka Bralo, Chief Executive of Migrants Organise, journalist and refugee from Sarajevo Bosnia. The panel discussed what it means to be a migrant and the role of women in migration.
