WISE100 2023 awards for top Women in Social Enterprise open for nominations
Thanks for your interest in the WISE100 Awards. This is your chance to nominate the UK's leading women in social enterprise and impact investing – with four awards to be announced at our WISE100 celebration early in 2023. Nominate by midnight on Monday 31 October! If you want to view the entry form in full, you can also download the PDF here.
The search is on for the UK's leading 100 women in social enterprise and impact investing during the past year.
The annual WISE100 list, created by Pioneers Post in partnership with NatWest Social & Community Capital, is once more open for nominations – with four awards to be announced at a special celebration event planned for early 2023.
Nominations must be submitted online and will be open until midnight on Monday 31 October for the following categories:
WISE100 Social Business Leader of the Year – for a CEO or leader with more than five years of leadership experience building revenue, social impact and a strong team
WISE100 Star of the Future – for a CEO or leader showing star qualities relatively new in their social enterprise career, with five or fewer years of leadership experience
WISE100 Social Investment Champion – for a woman making her mark in social impact investment
WISE100 Environmental Champion – for a woman doing pioneering work in the social enterprise space with a focus on climate change and environmental issues
Megan Virrels, CEO of NatWest Social & Community Capital – the bank's independent social investment charity, which has been supporting social ventures for more than 20 years – said:
“At a time when the country has just appointed only our third woman prime minister, and when we have so recently paid tribute to the remarkable leadership shown by our late Queen Elizabeth, it feels particularly appropriate that we are once more launching our call for nominations for the women across the UK who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service to their communities as purpose-led social entrepreneurs and investors.
“Empowering women in business is a key area of focus for NatWest – our CEO Alison Rose launched the Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship back in March 2019 and her progress report published earlier this year highlighted that women have been starting a record number of new companies in the UK, with over 140,000 all-female-founded companies created during 2021. In addition, 134 institutions with an investing power of nearly £1 trillion have now signed up to the Investing in Women Code, a commitment by financial services firms to improving female entrepreneurs’ access to tools, resources and finance.
“But the progress report also highlighted that female-led businesses are still underfunded and that new businesses are almost three times as likely to be started by men than women. With a target of boosting the number of female entrepreneurs by 600,000 by the end of the decade, we know that women starting and leading social purpose organisations have an important role to play in hitting this goal, and we are determined to support them through our work at NatWest Social & Community Capital and our partnership with Pioneers Post on the WISE100.”
Please submit your nomination by midnight on Monday 31 October, by reading the criteria and completing the details in the form accessed below.
WISE100 Awards: Criteria
WISE100 Social Business Leader of the Year
Who we are looking for: a CEO or leader with more than five years of leadership experience building revenue, social impact and a strong team. This experience may have been gained in leadership positions at just one or at several different organisations.
What we are looking for:
a) A short biography outlining the person's track record as a leader.
b) Evidence of this leader's achievements and the achievements of their social enterprise during the past year. This should include facts, figures and specific examples where possible.
Please do NOT write a long piece of prose telling us how fantastic this person is without backing it up with clear evidence.
c) Please include at least one endorsement from a team member, board member or business contact/partner.
WISE100 Star of the Future
Who we are looking for: a CEO or leader showing star qualities relatively new in their social enterprise career, with five or fewer years of leadership experience.
What we are looking for:
a) A short biography outlining the person's experience and development as a new social enterprise leader.
b) Evidence of this leader's achievements and the achievements of their social enterprise during the past year. This should include facts, figures and specific examples where possible.
Please do NOT write a long piece of prose telling us how fantastic this person is without backing it up with clear evidence.
c) Please include at least one endorsement from a board member or business mentor/advisor about why this leader is a Star of the Future.
WISE100 Social Investment Champion
Who we are looking for: a woman making her mark as a leader or pioneer in social impact investment during the past year.
What we are looking for:
a) A short biography outlining the person's track record in social investment.
b) Evidence of this leader's achievements in social investment during the past year. This should include facts, figures and specific examples of how this person has made a mark in social investment during the year.
Please do NOT write a long piece of prose telling us how fantastic this person is without backing it up with clear evidence.
c) Please include at least one endorsement from a board member, senior colleague or social investment partner.
WISE100 Environmental Champion
Who we are looking for: for a woman doing pioneering work in the social enterprise space with a focus on climate change and environmental issues.
What we are looking for:
a) A short biography outlining the person's experience in climate change and environmental issues.
b) Evidence of this leader's achievements and the achievements of their social enterprise during the past year. This should include facts, figures and specific examples of how this person has made a significant positive impact in climate change during the year.
Please do NOT write a long piece of prose telling us how fantastic this person is without backing it up with clear evidence.
c) Please include at least one personal endorsement from a board member, senior colleague or business partner/advisor.
Delivered by Pioneers Post, in partnership with NatWest Social & Community Capital, the WISE100 is an initiative to celebrate, support and share expertise, learning and inspiration among women in social enterprise across the UK.
If you have any questions, please get in touch via WISE100@pioneerspost.com
Read more about Women In Social Enterprise in our WISE100 Collection
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