The shortlist for the Women of the Future (“WOF”) Awards, the movement recognising and nurturing young female talent in the UK, has been announced today. The Awards, now in its 10th year and supported by headline sponsor Aviva, are open to women aged 35 or under and celebrate rising talent across business, culture, media and more.
The shortlist includes young women that have already made a big impact in their fields, such as:
- Nimko Ali, the Co-Founder of Daughters of Eve – the anti-Female genital mutilation (FGM) charity – who is raising awareness of this cultural taboo in order to bring it to an end;
- Lily Lapinna, Founder and CEO of MyBnk – a global financial and enterprise education charity. Lily is also a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Ashoka fellow and Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year;
- Jack Monroe, an award-winning writer and campaigner on poverty issues, through her blog ‘A Girl Called Jack’;
- Venetia Sanders, who founded Pink Collar Boxing at the age of 27, now the UK’s biggest female boxing company; and
- Lorna Walker, one of the youngest female Directors in Capital Markets, currently at CRBE and co-founder of women’s networking group, Peer20.
Spread across 11 categories, such as Real Estate, Technology and Digital, Business, Entrepreneur, and Sport, 61 women have been selected for this year’s awards, to be announced on 27th October at the London Hilton, Park Lane.
Pinky Lilani CBE DL, Founder, Women of the Future: “Every year we unearth and recognise the most incredible young women. This year we had a record number of nominations, which made it incredibly hard to choose as they were all so impressive! We are delighted with the shortlist identified and wish all of our chosen ladies a big congratulations for being identified as a woman of the future.”
In addition, this year includes three additional awards recognising Mentor of the Year, Young Star and Corporate Award. Stephen Ball, Senior Partner at KPMG, has been shortlisted for the Mentor of the Year award for his championing of women’s progression to senior levels, as has Alex Peace-Gadsby, Director of Musto Limited, who has spent the last 12 years mentoring women through some of the toughest periods of their lives.
All women shortlisted for a WOF Award are invited to join the WOF Ambassadors Programme, connecting award-winning women with sixth-formers, and the WOF Network, which is set up for members to connect and build business relationships.
Aviva Group CEO, Mark Wilson, said: “Diversity is a business imperative. It just makes business sense. So Aviva is proud to support the Women of the Future awards, which celebrate inspirational women who are role models and future business leaders. We need diversity at all corporate levels to help businesses deliver for customers, shareholders and society as a whole, and these awards contribute to this important objective.”
Previous winners of the WOF Awards include, writer & television presenter Dawn O’Porter; Women’s Editor at The Daily Telegraph, Emma Barnett; notonthehighstreet.com co-founder Holly Tucker; and Liv Garfield, Chief Executive of Severn Trent.
For a full list of shortlisted nominees, please see below:
ARTS AND CULTURE
1. Victoria Brook, Artist and Children’s Illustrator, Victoria Rachel Brook
2. Aleksandra Karpowicz, Fine Art Photographer/Director, LoVArts – London Visual Arts
3. Pietra Mello Pittman & Ella Spira, Directors (and Composer), Sisters Grimm
4. Hannah Kendall, Composer
5. Elise Foster Vander Elst, Executive Director, Asia Art Projects
BUSINESS
1. Sarah Baker, Head of International Government Relations, London Stock Exchange Group
2. Lisa Neale, General Manager, Voice & Multimedia Service Operations, BT Group
3. Lisa Humphreys, Board Director – Trading, MediaCom
4. Lindsey Rix, Chief Operating Officer, Aviva UK GI
5. Melissa Malik, Business Developer, Tesco
6. Katie Shaw, Senior Manager People South London, Asda
COMMUNITY SPIRITS
1. Nimko Ali, Co-Founder, Daughters of Eve
2. Jessica Carmody, Manager, KPMG
3. Marianna Hay, Artistic Director and Founder, The National Orchestra for All
4. Jessica Perrin, Head of NGO & Social Enterprise, Thomson Reuters Foundation
5. Jackie Scully, Group Account Director, Think
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
1. Kelly-Anne Byres, Director, Poppy Nursing and Care Services
2. Olga Kubassova, CEO, Image Analysis
3. Lily Lapinna, Founder and CEO, MyBnk
4. Gemma Richards, Director, SA Flyers
5. Cassandra Stavrou, Co-founder, PROPERCORN
MBA STAR
1. Priyanka Agarwal, Founder, Vritti Learning & Research
2. Pradita Astarina, Cambridge MBA Student, University of Cambridge
3. Elise Do, Business Executive, Office of the Group CFO, Rio Tinto
4. Ekta Malhotra, M&E Lead, Business Strategy, Accenture
MEDIA
1. Brogan Driscoll, Senior Lifestyle Editor, The Huffington Post UK
2. Debbi Evans, Founder, Libertine
3. Yalda Hakim, Foreign Correspondent/Anchor, BBC World News
4. Jack Monroe, Writer & Campaigner, Jack Monroe
5. Amy Stevens, Senior Account Manager, Six Degrees
PROFESSIONAL
1. Victoria Price, Partner, EY
2. Renata Gomes, Cardiovascular Scientist, King’s College London
3. Benedetta Lacey, Head of Peacekeeping, Foreign & Commonwealth Office
4. Sarah Lownes, Surgeon Lieutenant, Royal Navy
5. Sara Geramipoor, Legal Counsel, KPMG
REAL ESTATE, INFRASTRUCTURE AND CONSTRUCTION
1. Lizzie Cullum, Associate, Savills
2. Hannah Feddon, Associate Director, Faithful + Gould
3. Gayle Morgan, Commercial Manager, Laing O’Rourke
4. Lizi Stewart, Service Development Director, Arcadis (Incorporating EC Harris and Hyder Consulting in the UK)
5. Lorna Walker, Director, Capital Markets, CBRE
SCIENCE
1. Tessa Baker, Postdoctoral Fellow at All Souls, University of Oxford
2. Jennifer Edwards, Chancellors Research Fellow, Cardiff Catalysis
3. Maria-Chiara Ferrari, Lecturer in Membranes for Carbon Capture, University of Edinburgh
4. Laura Harkness-Brennan, Lecturer, University of Liverpool
5. Farzana Meru, Senior Research Associate, University of Cambridge
SPORT
1. Georgina Bullen, Director, Team Insight Limited
2. Sophie Christiansen, Paralympic Athlete, Team GB
3. Liv Cooke, Professional Football Freestyler, Liv Cooke Freestyle
4. Venetia Sanders, Founder, Pink Collar Boxing
5. Eden Silva, Professional Tennis Player
6. Roseanna Sunley, Director & Founder, E-Dressage
TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL
1. Grace Boswood, COO, BBC Digital & Engineering, BBC
2. Claire Calmejane, Director of Innovation & Digital Centre of Excellence, Lloyds Banking Group
3. Alexandra Chong, CEO, Lulu
4. Eve Henrikson, Online Trading Director, Tesco
5. Laura Toogood, Managing Director of Private Clients, Digitalis Reputation
YOUNG STAR
1. Beth Barnes, Student, Founder, Exeter Effective Altruists
2. Emma D’Amery, George Section Manager, Asda
3. Phoebe Gormley, Managing Director, Gormley & Gamble
4. Keziah Horgan, Community Arts Graduate, The BRIT School for Performing Arts
5. Emily Trenouth, Business Development Manager, MetLife
MENTOR
1. Stephen Ball, Senior Partner, KPMG
2. Kathy Beesley, Head of Programme Delivery, Lloyds Banking Group
3. Prof Tara Dean, Dean of Science, University of Portsmouth
4. Vicci Nolan, Clubhouse Manager, City Car Club
5. Alex Peace-Gadsby, Director, Musto Limited
CORPORATE
1. Accenture
2. Olswang
3. Shell
4. Synergy Vision
5. Unilever
