WeAreTheCity Rising Star Awards Sponsors

In 2015, WeAreTheCity launched its Rising Star awards and set a strategic objective to promote the achievements of 500 women from a multitude of industries in the UK and India by 2018.

The Rising Star awards recognise the achievements of women who are below Senior Management or Director level and therefore represent the female talent pipeline and the next generation of future leaders.

We are proud to announce that nominations for our 2017 Rising Star awards open on 01 February.

In previous years, the awards have been supported by an array of FTSE sponsors and this year is no different. We are proud to announce that this year’s award headline sponsors are The Times and The Sunday Times.

“We are delighted to support WeAreTheCity as the headline sponsor for their Rising Star Awards in 2017. Building and supporting a strong pipeline of female talent is a key area of focus at The Times and The Sunday Times. We are excited to be a part of this unique awards programme that shines the spotlight on the achievements of women across so many different industries. We are honoured to be involved and look forward to working alongside so many other organisations who are as passionate about gender equality as we are” said Chris Duncan, Managing Director, Times Newspapers Ltd

The Rising Star awards are also supported by Aon, Barclays, Bloomberg, Citi, CRUK, EY, Keir, Lloyd’s, Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust, Oliver Wyman, Societe Generale, Streets Consulting, Worldpay and 3M. Additional sponsors and categories will be announced throughout January.

Through WeAreTheCity’s Rising Star awards, and with the support of all our sponsors, WeAreTheCity will add to their alumni of 200 award winners by recognising the achievements of an additional 150 women and an additional 10 champions in the UK and India during 2017.

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.

Vanessa Vallely, Founder and CEO of WeAreTheCity, said: “I am very excited to launch our 2017 Rising Star awards and to be once again working with a variety of companies who are actively supporting the gender agenda. With their help over the past three years, we have shone a spotlight on 200 amazing women. I am very proud that this number will rise to 350 in 2017 and am looking forward to welcoming the next cohort of winners to WeAreTheCity’s Rising Star family.”

Recognising that careers for women may follow different timescales, the Rising Star awards do 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 leadership positions and key decision-making roles within our organisations.

Alongside our Rising Star categories and Rising Star Champion award, we are also pleased to announce a new award for 2017 – Company of the Year. This award recognises the achievements of a company who can clearly demonstrate that they are actively supporting its female talent pipeline through their initiatives, training, development programmes and internal employee relations and diversity network groups.

The nominations process for all 20 categories, our Rising Star Champions and Company of the Year award will open on 01 February 2017. Nominations will take place online via the Rising Stars website.

Categories included in the 2017 Rising Star awards are as follows:

Rising Stars in Banking, sponsored by Societe Generale

Rising Stars in Charity, sponsored by CRUK

Rising Stars in Consulting, sponsored by EY

Rising Stars in Defence, sponsor TBA

Rising Stars in Diversity, sponsored by Aon

Rising Stars in Education & Academia, sponsored by EDIT Development

Rising Stars in Entrepreneurs, sponsored by Citi

Rising Stars in Facilities Management, sponsor TBA

Rising Stars in Fintech, sponsored by Streets Consulting

Rising Stars in HR & Recruitment, sponsor TBA

Rising Stars in Insurance, sponsored by Lloyd’s

Rising Stars in Investment Management, sponsored by Northern Trust

Rising Stars in Law (The Lynne Freeman Award), sponsored by Reed Smith

Rising Stars PAs and EAs, sponsor TBA

Rising Stars in Property and Construction, sponsored by Kier

Rising Stars in Science and Engineering, sponsored by 3M

Rising Stars in Sales, sponsored by Worldpay

Rising Stars in Sport, sponsored by PedalSure

Rising Stars in Technology, sponsored by Morgan Stanley

Rising Stars Champions, sponsored by Oliver Wyman

Rising Stars Company of the Year Award sponsored by Barclays

Additional category, TBA

The awards are also supported by Bloomberg who will host our shortlist winners celebrations in June 2017.

Awards Timeline

Nominations open: 01 Feb 17

Nominations close: 24 Mar 17

First round Judging period: 03 – 28 Apr 17

Shortlist announced and public votes of support opens: 15 May 17

Finalist judging period: 15 May – 09 Jun 17

Shortlist celebration event: 08 Jun 17

Public voting closes: 09 Jun 17

Winners announced: 19 Jun 17

Winners event: 12 Jul 17

If you have any additional questions about the awards, please contact [email protected].

For details of entry criteria, please visit here

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