Kindly hosted by Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) on their beautiful rooftop terrace, WeAreTheCity’s awards shortlist was given the opportunity to network with each other, sponsors and judges and to celebrate their achievements.
During the evening, guests heard from some inspiring speakers including our very own Vanessa Vallely OBE CEO WeAreTheCity, Ayesha Patel COO of RBC Capital Markets, Europe, Abisola Barber Director Citibank and Global Head of Thematic Risk for the bank’s ICG Compliance Function, Manisha Tailor MBE Assistant Head of Coaching, QPR Boys’ Academy, Akua Opong, Chartered IT Professional, Infrastructure & Cloud Team, London Stock Exchange Group PLC, Dr Sally Penni MBE, Barrister of Law Kenworthys Chambers MCR, Layla Mullins Global Head of Events Peoplecert and Dr Harveen Chugh from Warwick Business School (Education).
Through these awards, we will celebrate 100 individual female contributors that represent the leaders and role models of tomorrow. We hope that by raising the profile of our shortlist and winners, we will also encourage organisations to consider how they strengthen the development of their female pipeline in the future.
Since 2015, WeAreTheCity’s Rising Star Awards have highlighted the achievements of over 750 future leaders and role models across various industries and professions.
These 200 women are now facing the final judging period and the winners will be announced on 22 May 2023. The winners will be invited to celebrate their achievements at a prestigious award ceremony on 12 July 2023, alongside our sponsors, judges and special guests.
VANESSA VALLELY
DESIREE CLARKE NOBLE, MANAGING DIRECTOR, RBC
This year’s shortlisted nominees include Runako Celina, an Investigative Journalist whose debut documentary, Racism for Sale, broke several records for BBC Africa Eye, becoming the most watched, saved and commented-on video of all time on the BBC Africa Instagram account. Abimbola Ajala of Lahafrica is also shortlisted for her work as Executive Director of Lend a hand for the development of Africa, a non-profit organization in Lagos Nigeria dedicated to supporting families in underserved communities with educational scholarships and a blend of supplementary initiatives which includes food drives and her padforagirl project. Shortlisted within our Charity category is Anita Marinelli, Founder of My Shining Star children’s Cancer charity who raised over £600,000 in nine months for a child diagnosed with Cancer and within our Entrepreneurs and Start-ups category, we are delighted to shine a spotlight on Samantha Hiew, who set up ADHD girls, a community to support neurodiverse women with ADHD.
These are just a few of the incredible women on our shortlist, you can view the entire shortlist here.
