In 2010 I applied for the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards.
Launched in 2006, their mission is to shine a light on women impact entrepreneurs and provide them with the necessary financial, social and human capital support to grow their business and build their leadership skills.
I submitted an application form, including our financial history, our highs, our lows, our business plan, and made the shortlist of three to represent Europe at the 2011 edition of the awards. In the judging and awards week I met impact entrepreneurs from all over the world, first in Paris, then in Deauville, where the awards took place. It was a frenetic week of learning, presenting, networking, calling back to the UK to work with Elvis on fine tuning my presentation for the Jury and staying on top of Elvis & Kresse's day-to-day needs.
I won - I cried - and then started to realise just what it all meant. Cartier was not in this for the event, but for the impact, for the women. All the women. Win or lose everyone becomes a fellow. The support that continued to flow was truly incredible. The network continued to grow. We hosted events at our former HQ - the Mill - and I became a Juror for Europe and then a Head Juror, serving for 5 years. I couldn't say no to the chance to meet, year after year, some of the most outstanding and inspirational women in entrepreneurship.
And now here we are in 2025, 15 years after my application. This year, instead of running the awards, Cartier has gone back through all of the entrepreneurs it has supported since 2006 and chosen nine to honour with Impact Awards. They narrowed the search to three specific categories, which you can find below. And I would love for you to learn more about each of the Awardees. In May we will all travel to Osaka, to have the chance to learn and celebrate together with the wider Cartier Women's Initiative community. In the meantime - please meet these eight incredible women!
Kristin Kagetsu, Tracy O'Rourke, and me!
Namita Banka, Caitlin Dolkart, and Yvette Ishimwe
Rama Kayyali, Jackie Stenson, and Mariam Torosyan
These nine Impact Awardees will be celebrated during the Cartier Women’s Initiative
Impact Awards Ceremony to be held on May 22nd, 2025, in Osaka, as part of the
Inauguration of the Women’s Pavilion at World Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai.
Each of the nine awardees will receive a $100,000 grant along with increased media visibility and participation in a dedicated 1-year Impact Fellowship. This program offers Impact Awardees the opportunity to enhance their impact measurement skills, refine their impact metrics and practices, deepen their leadership capabilities, and improve time management through a specialised productivity and task prioritisation course. This year, the CWI is partnering with several new program partners, making this edition a truly unique and enriching experience for its former fellows.
