Dana Denis-Smith | First 100 Years
In 2014 I founded the First 100 Year project (www.first100years.org.uk), my business, funded initially and has helped coordinated since 2014. It all began with an image from 1982 – that of one woman surrounded by a group of 50 or so male partners marking the 100th anniversary of one of the City of London’s best known law firms. I was fascinated to understand how it felt to be the only woman and what her journey in the legal profession had been. I was anxious to ask her how it felt to be a lonely star? And I am delighted Dorothy Livingston, the woman in the middle, has embraced the project and shared her story with us all.
The aim of the First 100 Years project was ambitious and clearly defined from the outset: a 5 year project (2014-2019) to create the world’s first digital museum (www.first100years.org.uk) dedicated to the journey of women in law. It would include 100 video personal stories of women lawyers as well as hundreds of digitised artefacts and exclusive content to chart our own journey in the legal profession since 1919 to the present.
There’s no doubt that as I reflect on the project to date, we have achieved a lot: we have a great following on social media, have acquired partnership from all of the main legal bodies (including the Law Society and the Bar Council), we filmed numerous videos with lawyers from Cherie Booth QC to Baroness Hale and Dame Janet Gaymer. Our visitors to the project website spend an average 5 minutes reading our stories. It is about to expand into Australia/ France/Ireland with local chapters.
There’s something empowering about understanding one’s history and celebrating. Although the family tree for women in law goes back less than 100 years, it is for us all to bring each piece of the puzzle we possess to make the picture complete. If not for our sake, for the sake of the next generation of women in law who need to build on the confidence of the past to secure an equal future.
Ruth Grant | Hogan Lovells
Ruth Grant is a Board member and lead diversity Partner at Hogan Lovells. Over the last ten years, her global diversity agenda has created a cultural shift within the firm and transformed its reputation as a diversity pioneer.
Ruth is the founder and chair of the firm's Global Diversity and Inclusion and London Diversity Committees. She was the London Managing Partner from 2005-2009 and sole woman on the firm's International Executive Committee. She was previously a member of the firm's International Operations and New Partner Committees and was People Development Partner from 2009 to 2015.
As lead diversity Partner, Ruth has created and grown a comprehensive programme of activity to promote diversity globally, and many of her efforts have specifically focused around recruiting and developing women and other minority groups. Ruth is also a role model for gender equality externally and actively promotes diversity and inclusion throughout the legal profession. She is a member of the Solicitors Regulation Authority's Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee.
Ruth's efforts have been affirmed by the firm's many diversity rankings and awards, and last year she was awarded The Law Society's Woman Lawyer of the Year and BSN's Diversity Champion awards.
Brigid North | Reed Smith
Sally Clark | Barclays
Chuck Stephens | Google
Chuck is a recognized leader in Diversity and Inclusion (D&I). Leveraging more than a fifteen years’ of experience building, deploying, and managing D&I practices, Chuck delivers measurable, business-focused solutions that meet the demands of complex organizations. He has guided some of the world’s largest companies in addressing their D&I challenges while increasing their eminence as diversity leaders. He has deep experience establishing and governing broad-based D&I practices that are tailored to the needs of individual business units while leveraging knowledge across the organization.
He is a long standing champion of equity and equality for all. Creating pathways for organisations, leaders, and individuals to move from tactical to transformational is a hallmark of his career. This is achieved via building awareness, changing attitudes, and promoting behaviours to create new outcomes.
Established relationships with Fortune Magazine, Human Rights Campaign, Stonewall, Race for Opportunity, UN Women, Working Mother, OpportunityNow, OutStanding, The Guardian newspaper, and others have contributed to drive brand eminence and D&I impact.
Shay Doran | Barclaycard
Athena Livesey | WSP
I am a UK and European Chartered Principal Engineering Geologist, with over ten years’ global experience. My career has taken me to Australia and led me across the Arabian Peninsula and back to England. In doing so, I have created a global network and left behind a legacy of impressive, award-winning infrastructure projects that have helped millions of people improve their daily lives.
I have worked on eight multi-award-winning highway schemes, from feasibility to construction, the total length of which rivals the M25. I am incredibly fortunate to do something that I am passionate about, and I am invested in helping other young engineers build a career they can be proud of. As a STEM ambassador and part of WSP's school engagement programme Launchpad, I help young people make informed choices and open their eyes to the creative world of engineering.
In my efforts to promote the image of engineering, I blog regularly, and have written articles about my career, Women in Engineering that have been published in Construction News and Infrastructure Intelligence.
Over my career, I have published two technical journals and had a double page spread on the A1 widening scheme, Gateshead, UK in Ground Engineering. Recently, I gave a technical presentation at the NW Geological Society on the A1widening scheme and was subsequently invited to repeat the presentation across the UK.
On 01 January, I began my two-year tenure as the UK National Chair for the Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) Progress Network. I am leading an active group of over 2000 young professionals from a variety of firms, disciplines and sectors across the UK. As National Chair, I form strategic plans to build capacity and provide leadership to the existing regional groups and grow and nurture the network across further geographical regions.
Bijal Majithia | EY
Bijal Majithia works at EY as a Business Change Manager. She is the Hindu faith representative for EY and hosts regular events with the network as well as collaborative events with other networks.
Earlier this year Bijal won an Award for her on going project ‘Food for the Mind, Body and Soul’ in which she leads a team of 100 volunteers to serve various charitable and community projects across the UK and India. These include cooking for and feeding 9 homeless shelters, supporting an abandoned animals sanctuary, spending time at several dementia care homes, collecting toys for Great Ormond street Hospital, helping at a sanctuary that serves autistic children and adults and building care packages for the homeless. The professionals involved commented on how this experience has taught them the importance of being selfless and uplifted them in giving back.
Bijal is the Director and founder of Veda London, a non-profit organisation which shares mindfulness, meditation and wellbeing in the workplace. The project has grown incredibly over the last 18 months, with events across the city including EY, Norton Rose, Schroders, Accenture, Bank of England, BNP Pariba and HS2, with more events in the pipeline for 2017. Veda London has attracted leading speakers on topics related to living a more spiritually focused lifestyle. In a time where people are more spiritually focused than ever, Veda London is a pioneering project in this fast growing space. Due to its success, the concept is even being established internationally in Melbourne and New York.
Bijal also project leads various experiences areas with thousands of visitors. Most recently she created the ‘Veggie Steady Cook’ experience which serves to educate people on the benefits of a healthy and conscious diet through an interactive multimedia experience, including live cooking demonstrations and tailor made recipe books.
Gill Hemming | PwC
As a marketer with 10 years’ experience I thrive on delivering large scale campaigns focusing on issues that are of real importance to my firm's clients.
As the Marketing Manager for PwC’s Forensic Services practice, I work with 900 Partners and staff across the country on campaigns targeted at our key buyers and audiences. I challenge my customers to think differently, to add new dimensions to their marketing initiatives and to put their clients at the heart of everything they do.
Alongside my day job I am a member of PwC’s GLEE (Gay, Lesbian & Everyone Else) leadership, and chair of the GLEE North Committee, positions I am very proud of and work passionately in. I regularly represent the network at internal and external events, speaking on diversity topics including the importance of the “everyone else” to our network.
In 2017 I am leading our networks sponsorship of Pride in London, as well as working on our involvement with Pride in Leeds and Belfast Pride, a first for our firm. I am coordinating over 50 PwC@Pride activities throughout the country and year to demonstrate PwC’s commitment to diversity and inclusion to our clients, our people and our communities.
Nominations are now closed for WeAreTheCity’s 2017 Rising Star Awards
Nominations are now closed for WeAreTheCity's 2017 Rising Star Awards.
A shortlist of ten women from each industry category will be now chosen by an esteemed panel of judges and will be published in May. The shortlist will then be open to a public vote. Judging for the final five winners for each category will take place with independent judges across May and June. The Top 100 Rising Stars will be announced towards the end of June and all winners, sponsors and supporters will be invited to attend a prestigious evening reception at Barclays in London to celebrate and collect their awards.
For our 2017 Rising Star awards, we are leveraging the extensive experience and industry knowledge of 28 amazing 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 female pipeline and for donating their valuable time to judge the Rising Star awards in 2017.
Meet our judges here
Now in their third year, the WATC Rising Star Awards are the first to focus on the UK’s female talent pipeline below management level. Through these awards we will celebrate 100 individual female contributors that represent the leaders and role models of tomorrow. We hope that by raising the profile of our short list and winners, we will also encourage organisations to consider how they strengthen the development of their female pipeline in the future.
Remaining Timeline
- First round Judging period: 03 – 28 Apr 17
- Shortlist announced and public vote*: 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
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