Nominations are now open for WeAreTheCity Rising Star Awards, recognising India’s female talent
Nominations are now open for WeAreTheCity India's Rising Star Awards, highlighting the achievements of the female talent pipeline across India.
We are now seeking nominations for our Rising Star awards. The nomination period is open between 01 August - 31 August.
NOMINATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED
Over the next three months, 50 women below senior management and five senior champions from a wide range of industries and professions will be chosen by our judges as winners of this year's Rising Star awards in India.
We need your help to find these individuals so we can shine a well deserved light on their achievements.
By highlighting the accolades of inspirational female talent, WeAreTheCity hopes to encourage organisations and business leaders to invest in and recognise women as leaders of tomorrow and individual contributors within their respective industries. Recognising that careers for women may follow different timescales, the Top 50 Rising Star India awards will not have any age restrictions included within the criteria. WeAreTheCity feels it has a responsibility to ensure that female talent, regardless of age and background, receives the necessary support and skills to transition into key decision-making roles within our organisations.
Vanessa Vallely, Founder and CEO of WeAreTheCity, said: “I am delighted to bring our Rising Star awards to India. I have watched WeAreTheCity India grow over the last two years under the direction of local, professional women and have met some truly talented and inspirational women. I hope that by raising the profile of our members and other women across India that we are able to highlight just how important the female talent pipeline is to Indian businesses and the Indian economy as a whole.”
Jo Gaglani, Chair of WeAreTheCity India said: “WeAreTheCity India has come a long way since its launch in 2013. We have had some unique events for our members supported by our sponsors and have grown organically. The Rising Star awards is a natural next step for WeAreTheCity India to highlight and celebrate upcoming female talent across India.”
NOMINATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED
The Nominations
Sponsored by Barclays, the Rising Stars nomination process is now open.
Nominations will take place online via WeAreTheCity.in. A shortlist of 100 women from a range of industries and ten shortlisted champions will be chosen in September by an esteemed panel of judges. The shortlist will then be open to a public vote.
The top 50 Rising Stars will be announced late October and all winners will be invited to attend a prestigious evening reception on 09 November in Mumbai to collect their awards and celebrate alongside our sponsors, judges and esteemed guests.
We would like to receive Rising Star nominations from the following industries and professions:
| Banking | Health & Wellbeing | Media & Journalism |
| Consulting | Retail | Law |
| Insurance | Entrepreneurial / Small Business Owners | Sport |
| Technology | Charity / NGO | Sales, Marketing & Public Relations |
| Hospitality | Public Sector | HR, Recruitment & Diversity |
| Arts, Culture and Media | Personal Assistant / Executive Assistant | Education & Academia |
There will also be a category for Rising Star Champions. This category will support the efforts of senior male or female leaders who are actively supporting gender either within or outside their organisations.
We are delighted to be the lead sponsor of the Rising Star Awards which recognises the achievements of talented women on their way to the top; the contributions they make to their organisations and society in general. - Mark McLane, Managing Director, Head of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Barclays PLC
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[gdlr_tab title="Criteria for Entries (Rising Star)"]
- Open to all women regardless of age
- Nominees must be below senior/middle management
- Nominees must be working in India and be an Indian national
- Anyone can nominate a woman for an award – managers, employees, family members, friends
- Individuals can nominate themselves
[/gdlr_tab]
[gdlr_tab title="Criteria for Entries (Rising Star Champion)"]
- Nominations can be either male or female
- Nominees must be in senior positions and be actively championing women and gender
[/gdlr_tab]
[gdlr_tab title="How we Define a Rising Star"]
- Someone who is making a difference in their industry
- Someone who strives to achieve success and results
- Someone who demonstrates passion and drive
- Someone who gives back or inspires others
- Someone who is recognised by others as having the potential to become a future leader in their industry
- Someone who is a champion of women in their business or sector
[/gdlr_tab]
[gdlr_tab title="The Timeline"]
- 01 Aug: Nominations open
- 31 Aug: Nominations close
- 26 Sep: Top 100 shortlist announced and public voting opens for all shortlisted nominees
- 14 Oct: Public voting closes for all shortlisted nominees
- 24 Oct: Top 50 Rising Stars announced
- 09 Nov: Top 50 Rising Star reception and awards ceremony for winners, sponsors, judges and esteemed guests
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WeAreTheCity India
Established in 2014, WeAreTheCity India has helped thousands of women enhance their careers and businesses through dedicated events, networking groups and its own platform WeAreTheCity.in. Now in its third year, WeAreTheCity India is more committed than ever to highlighting the achievements of the female talent pipeline across the country.
In 2015, WeAreTheCity set a strategic objective of promoting the achievements and supporting the careers of 500 women over the next five years, both in the UK and India. Through WeAreTheCity’s Rising Star awards, and with the support of a number of key organisations, WeAreTheCity plans to add to the list of 150 UK winners by recognising the efforts of an additional 50 women in India.
Rising Stars in the UK
WeAreTheCity launched Rising Stars in the UK in 2015 and since then has recognised the achievements of 150 women. The first awards in 2015 awarded 50 women from 10 different industries as Rising Stars. In 2016, due to the success of the 2015 awards, Rising Stars was expanded to recognise 100 women from 20 industry sectors alongside five senior Rising Star champions.
The social media interest in Rising Stars for the 2016 awards has been phenomenal:
- 850 nominations received
- 30,000 tweets received during the process
- Our campaign twitter handle #watctop100 trended a number of times throughout the awards process
- 110 countries were reached through the public vote
- 28,000 votes received for our shortlisted nominees
To see profiles and images of our 2016 Rising Star Awards, click here.
If you are interested in sponsoring the Rising Star Awards in India, please email [email protected] for more details.
NOMINATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED
POWERED BY
Frequently asked questions | Terms and conditions
WeAreTheCity India Rising Star awards - Proud to introduce our Award Judges
Judging the Rising Star awards is no easy task. Several of the judges from this year’s awards in the UK awards stated it was one of the hardest judging activities they have ever undertaken due to the incredible achievements of the women who were nominated. We expect our awards in India will be no different!
For our 2016 Rising Star awards, we are leveraging the extensive experience and industry knowledge of 15 esteemed judges. Each judge has been carefully selected for their expertise in a particular field or their breadth of knowledge across the business landscape.
On behalf of WeAreTheCity, our sponsors and future nominees, we would like to sincerely thank all of our judges for their dedication to the female pipeline and for donating their valuable time to judge the Rising Star awards in India for 2016.
Our Rising Star awards are the only awards of their kind to focus solely on the pipeline of female talent below management level. The aim of the 2016 awards is to recognise and celebrate 50 female role models and individual contributors across many different industries who represent the future leaders of tomorrow.
MEET THE JUDGES
NOMINATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED
WeAreTheCity Rising Star Awards, recognising India’s female talent - Nominations open 01 August
WeAreTheCity India recently announced that it is launching a new Awards Recognition Programme to highlight the achievements of the female talent pipeline across India. Nominations open on 01 August 2016.
50 women in non-managerial positions from a range of industries will be chosen as a Rising Stars in recognition of their achievements.
By highlighting the accolades of inspirational female talent, WeAreTheCity hopes to encourage organisations and business leaders to invest in and recognise women as leaders of tomorrow and individual contributors within their respective industries. Recognising that careers for women may follow different timescales, the Top 50 Rising Star India awards will not have any age restrictions included within the criteria. WeAreTheCity feels it has a responsibility to ensure that female talent, regardless of age and background, receives the necessary support and skills to transition into key decision-making roles within our organisations.
Vanessa Vallely, Founder and CEO of WeAreTheCity, said: “I am delighted to bring our Rising Star awards to India. I have watched WeAreTheCity India grow over the last two years under the direction of local, professional women and have met some truly talented and inspirational women. I hope that by raising the profile of our members and other women across India that we are able to highlight just how important the female talent pipeline is to Indian businesses and the Indian economy as a whole.”
Jo Gaglani, Chair of WeAreTheCity India said: “WeAreTheCity India has come a long way since its launch in 2013. We have had some unique events for our members supported by our sponsors and have grown organically. The Rising Star awards is a natural next step for WeAreTheCity India to highlight and celebrate upcoming female talent across India.”
The Nominations
Sponsored by Barclays, the Rising Stars nomination process will open on 01 August 2016.
Nominations will take place online via WeAreTheCity.in. A shortlist of 100 women from a range of industries will be chosen in September by an esteemed panel of judges. The shortlist will then be open to a public vote.
The top 50 Rising Stars will be announced late October and all winners, sponsors and supporters will be invited to attend a prestigious evening reception at the start of November in Mumbai to celebrate and collect their awards.
We would like to receive Rising Star nominations from the following industries and professions:
| Banking | Health & Wellbeing | Media & Journalism |
| Consulting | Retail | Law |
| Insurance | Entrepreneurial / Small Business Owners | Sport |
| Technology | Charity / NGO | Sales, Marketing & Public Relations |
| Hospitality | Public Sector | HR, Recruitment & Diversity |
| Arts & Culture | Personal Assistant / Executive Assistant | Education & Academia |
There will also be a category for Rising Star Champions. This category will support the efforts of senior male or female leaders who are actively supporting gender either within or outside their organisations.
“We are delighted to be the lead sponsor of the Rising Star Awards which recognises the achievements of talented women on their way to the top; the contributions they make to their organisations and society in general.” Mark McLane, Managing Director, Head of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Barclays PLC
Criteria for Entries
- Open to all women regardless of age
- Nominees must be below senior/middle management
- Nominees must be working in India and be an Indian national
- Anyone can nominate a woman for an award – managers, employees, family members, friends
- Individuals can nominate themselves
How we Define a Rising Star
- Someone who is making a difference in their industry
- Someone who strives to achieve success and results
- Someone who demonstrates passion and drive
- Someone who gives back or inspires others
- Someone who is recognised by others as having the potential to become a future leader in their industry
- Someone who is a champion of women in their business or sector
The Timeline
- 01 Aug: Nominations open
- 31 Aug: Nominations close
- 26 Sep: Top 100 shortlist announced and public voting opens for all shortlisted nominees
- 14 Oct: Public voting closes for all shortlisted nominees
- 24 Oct: Top 50 Rising Stars announced
- 09 Nov: Top 50 Rising Star reception and awards ceremony for winners, guests and sponsors
WeAreTheCity India
Established in 2014, WeAreTheCity India has helped thousands of women enhance their careers and businesses through dedicated events, networking groups and its own platform WeAreTheCity.in. Now in its third year, WeAreTheCity India is more committed than ever to highlighting the achievements of the female talent pipeline across the country.
In 2015, WeAreTheCity set a strategic objective of promoting the achievements and supporting the careers of 500 women over the next five years, both in the UK and India. Through WeAreTheCity’s Rising Star awards, and with the support of a number of key organisations, WeAreTheCity plans to add to the list of 150 UK winners by recognising the efforts of an additional 50 women in India.
Rising Stars in the UK
WeAreTheCity launched Rising Stars in the UK in 2015 and since then has recognised the achievements of 150 women. The first awards in 2015 awarded 50 women from 10 different industries as Rising Stars. In 2016, due to the success of the 2015 awards, Rising Stars was expanded to recognise 100 women from 20 industry sectors.
The social media interest in Rising Stars for the 2016 awards has been phenomenal:
- 5,000 tweets received during the process
- Our campaign twitter handle #watctop100 trended number one during the UK short list event
- 850 nominations received
- 110 countries reached
- 28,000 votes received during the public vote
To see profiles and images of our 2016 Rising Star Awards, click here.
If you are interested in sponsoring the Rising Star Awards in India, please email [email protected] for more details.
Rising Stars Shortlist Celebration 2016 | In images
On 17 May 2016, WeAreTheCity held the Rising Stars Shortlist event.
Held at Bloomberg, London, the event brought together those shortlisted across 21 categories, judges, previous winners and speakers including BBC Radio 4’s Jane Garvey and leader of the Women’s Equality Party, Sophie Walker.
We would like to thank Bloomberg and their staff for their support and hospitality as well as our judges, sponsors and guests for making the evening a truly remarkable celebration of women and their achievements.
Winners of the 2016 Rising Star awards will be published on 6 June.
You can still vote for your shortlisted Rising Star here
WeAreTheCity celebrate the Rising Star Awards shortlist at Bloomberg
WeAreTheCity hosted an evening of celebration for over 200 women who were shortlisted for 2016’s Rising Star Awards.
Held at Bloomberg, London, the event brought together those shortlisted across 21 categories, judges, previous winners and speakers including BBC Radio 4’s Jane Garvey and leader of the Women’s Equality Party, Sophie Walker. See the event in pictures here.
Pamela Hutchinson, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Bloomberg welcomed guests and introduced the evening saying, “I am completely overwhelmed by the range and depth of female talent in the room.”
Jane Garvey then took to the stage, exclaiming that there was “so much energy in this room and environment.”
The Woman’s Hour host told the audience: “You are phenomenal. I am terrified frankly by the ability of the media category out there. Seriously though, we need your energy, we need your enthusiasm and we need your ideas.”
Women’s Equality Party leader, Sophie Walker was met to a roaring round of applause and said, “It’s such a pleasure to be here this evening, standing in this room of brilliant women, celebrating your brilliant, brilliant achievements.”
“The depth and breadth of work and achievements blew me away. I began to wonder what an earth I was doing with my time.”
“We are all here because we all want to be the best us that we can be.”
“Women are not a niche, or an after thought or a detail on a manifesto. Women have always been told it’s up to us to change. We have a generation of brilliant and talented women.”
“You are all ambassadors for the positive power of diversity and change.”
Concluding the talk, WeAreTheCity founder and managing director, Vanessa Vallely said, ““This is an opportunity to meet new people and grow your network. In this room are future mentors, sponsors and people who can and will help you in your career.”
“You are now part of the wider WeAreTheCity family and with that comes great responsibility! Help each other, help others and don't be afraid to ask for support when you need it, if we cannot help you, we will point you to an organisation or individual who can.”
“Connect, have fun and make sure you follow up with each other, make the magic happen!.”
A panellist of last year’s winners, including Dara Kirton, Debbie Grimshaw, Alicia Miller, Rashada Harry and Vinita Ramtri, were interviewed by Jane Garvey and spoke of winning the award, career advice and what has happened to them since.
Dara Kirton said winning the award was ‘completely unexpected but awesome’. Continuing, she said, “Since the award, PwC have shared the story. There has been a lot of profiling – I got a promotion at work and won further awards.”
Debbie Grimshaw said, “It’s been an absolutely huge boost. It’s opened so many doors and given me a platform to launch my career, given me a voice.”
When asked how to get a pay rise, Alicia Miller said, “Ask for it. Find your value, know what you are worth and live what you are worth – and find a way for people to realise the value you bring to your role and organisation.”
“If you don’t shout for you, who will?.”
After the speaking, the audience was encouraged to network with people they had never met and make contacts. Attendees were also invited to have a free headshot taken by The Headshot Guy.
Now in its second year, the Rising Star Awards are the first to focus on the UK’s female talent pipeline below management level. Through these awards, WeAreTheCity will celebrate 100 individual female contributors that represent the leaders and role models of tomorrow.
This year, WeAreTheCity are also pleased to announce a new category to our awards, Rising Star Champions, which recognises the efforts of senior leaders, male and female, who are actively supporting the female pipeline outside of their corporate responsibilities.
For more information about the Rising Star Awards and to cast your vote, click here.
Isobel O'Connor | Mercer
Isobel is an International Benefits Consultant at Mercer. Having graduated from the University of Bath in 2013 with an honours degree in European Studies, French and Spanish, Isobel joined Mercer in a business development support role before moving to the International Consulting Group in January 2015.
In her day to day consulting role, Isobel partners with senior HR stakeholders to provide strategic advice and support in the management of global employee benefit programs for FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 organisations. She is also studying towards the Diploma in International Employee Benefits.
Alongside her day job, Isobel is Co-Chair of the UK gender balance network at Mercer, ‘The Vine’, which encourages all employees to embrace gender diversity. In this role, Isobel develops the strategy for the network, makes recommendations to the Board on diversity matters at Mercer, and
organises events for employees and clients.
Outside of work Isobel is a keen netball player and enjoys travelling and photography.
Sian Rodway | PA Consulting
Sian is a Consultant Analyst within PA’s Defence and Security practice – an independent company specialising in Technology, Consulting and Innovation where she can fully apply the skills and knowledge gained from an MSc in International Defence, Development and Diplomacy from Durham University. Sian is currently using her experience to help UK defence and security clients design new analysis based approaches to complex problem solving - including Big Data, effective research and development and efficiencies through better collaboration and operating models.
Since 2015 Sian has been a key player in Women in Defence UK, a community of people who wish to promote the value of women in the defence sector. Sian is motivated by their vision of succeeding authentically and is passionate about being a role model that mentors and encourages others. She is pioneering a ‘Women in Defence Blog’ that aims to be an original source of inspiration for others who work or are thinking of working anywhere in the defence sector.
Aimee Gill | Worldpay
Head of Retention Marketing and Customer Lifecycle |
Aimée is a proven Marketing professional with a track record of delivering innovation, whilst demonstrating inspirational leadership and acting as a role model for business women in technology and financial services.
Aimée has worked for a number of leading global businesses and UK brands including Renault and Royal Mail. Since joining, Worldpay, Europe’s No.1 payment services company, in 2012, she has led transformational initiatives to help the business successfully grow and retain its customers. This success helped to play a key role in the recent floatation of Worldpay on the LSE – with the business now ranked in the top 100 of the FTSE.
Aimée has a passion for the customer and ensures that Worldpay remains customer focused and delivers exceptional levels of service and engagement. She is responsible for Customer Experience and Loyalty marketing, and leads a team of 12 people who work with more than 280,000 businesses across the UK - helping them prosper and sell more.
Her outstanding contribution has been recognised via a Worldpay Ambassador Award nomination in 2012 whilst she was invited to join a select group who embarked on a Global Leadership Programme in 2013.
Aimée has also been a passionate advocate for gender diversity in the workplace and the importance of nurturing up and coming female talent in the technology sector. She helped to establish, and now leads the Women of Worldpay (WOW) organisation, Worldpay’s first employee network. The organisation has helped to inspire its members and has acted as a catalyst for the business, with other diversity groups following its lead. In a short space of time WOW membership has reached 400, has presence in 9 offices and 6 countries worldwide. Aimee acts as a true role model – living the value pillars – to attract, inspire and connect with members through a series of engaging events and thought provoking insights, whilst ensuring Women of Worldpay have access to mentors and inspirational leaders. Her ambition is to ensure every WOW member feels supported in their career path and develop into the next generation of leaders.
Sarah Khan | Sara K Digital
Having worked in digital marketing for nearly 10 years, l noticed the rarity of experts, companies who genuinely care for employees and customers beyond financial gain and company politics. How can the UK be the leaders in technology if we aren't providing British SME’s the tools to grow their businesses at honest prices? As a result, SARA K Digital was born.
I serve the hardworking SMEs of the UK and support them to grow their business through online marketing such as social media. My current project provides practical, simple and empowering online marketing training and advice to SMEs - accessible online 24/7 with an expert at hand for further support.
SARA K Digital is an honest business that values each and every stakeholder and gives back to the community because it genuinely cares for people. I practice what l preach as a result, l volunteer my time to mentoring students, young professionals and helping startups who are unable to grow due to personal financial difficulties. Furthermore, a percentage of project profits go directly to educational schemes to help third world countries. And my next venture involves helping children with learning difficulties in the UK.
I believe it’s our duty to inspire and help make the world a better place through our actions for the next generation.
