Ankita Kaur | Barclays
Ankita Kaur is working as a Team Support Specialist for Barclays. She started working in 2009 at the age of 19. She has successfully completed five years with Barclays. She is her parent’s only daughter and a Delhi State badminton player. She was promoted as a TSS last year, after lot of hard work, dedication and focus. There are many things she is known for such as her go-to attitude, easy approach, bring it on nature and always on top of everything.
Some of her achievements include:
- Getting nominated for global recognition program in Barclays under the category excellence and was nominated by Shelley Malton for an idea she submitted.
- Got 11 ‘thank you’ notes from the higher management including the Director of Barclaycard, Neha Nigam and Vice President, Priyank Shrivastava for various things.
Moreover she was part of the monthly commentary of Indronil Chakravarthy, Director of Barclaycard. He said of Ankita: “I’m amazed to see the zeal she has for the work she has to do.”
Ankita has always tried to overachieve her goal but makes sure all around her get the benefits out of it. She is a team player and always high on energy. She lives on basic values of respect; integrity; service; excellence; and stewardship.
Amarjeet Kaur | Ernst & Young
Alicia Souza | Freelance Illustrator
Aanuu V Thaakur | Dynamic Designs
Exemplifying the growing confidence and spirit among the current crop of female entrepreneurs is interior designer, Aanuu V Thaakur. With over 18 years of experience in the intensely creative arena of designing and decorating, Aanuu has firmly carved a niche for herself, enjoying the confidence of both corporate clients as well as small businesses and homeowners in search of innovative, low cost solutions.
Aanuu has a virtual who’s who list of clients and can draw satisfaction from the fact that some of the most envied homes, offices and shops carry her hallmark of good taste.
Rising Stars 2016: So what happened next for our winners? | Part Five
In 2016, thanks to the help of a number of amazing supporters and sponsors, WeAreTheCity ran its Rising Star awards programme for a second year.
The aim of the awards was to identify 100 future leaders and role models under, management level, across 20 different industries. After more than 800 nominations and an intensive judging period, we finally arrived at our shortlist and opened the public vote.
The public vote resulted in over 27,000 votes from across 110 different countries and galvanized amazing support from our nominees’ networks, their companies, the press, as well as our own sponsors and supporters.
After a final judging process, we identified our amazing top 100 winners and celebrated their awards alongside our sponsors at a ceremony hosted by Barclays.
We spoke to our winners about life after winning a Rising Star award.
We spoke with to Ellen Hartley, HR Business Partner at Barclays and winner in our Rising Stars in HR and Recruitment sponsored by Twenty Recruitment Group.
Ellen please tell us what has happened in your career since winning the Rising Star awards back in June?
“It’s been bit of a whirlwind since winning the award! I’ve found the support of the other winners and my colleagues at Barclays incredible; the whole experience has really opened my eyes to some of the other fantastic things people are doing across different companies, and I’m really pleased to have expanded my network further. I’m currently talking to some of the other winners about how we can work together to continue what we’ve started, build further awareness of Diversity and Inclusion and use our experiences to support others – watch this space!
“Winning the award has also opened more doors for me, it’s increased my profile internally and across the industry and I’m now starting to get involved in loads more, which I’m loving. There is a lot that we can individually achieve, and even more so together – I’m looking forward to what comes next!”
What top tips would you give to our other members to enhance their careers?
- Don’t wait for someone to give you permission, take ownership of your own career, try new things and push yourself out of your comfort zone. A small idea can have the biggest impact, you just have to believe in what you’re doing and give yourself the permission!
- Make the most of your network, I didn’t realise how many people were interested or already involved in the things that I’m so passionate about. There are some truly inspirational people around us, you just have to ask, and you’ll be amazed at what you learn.
Next we spoke to Julie Thomas, Diversity, Inclusion and Wellbeing Manager at Zurich Insurance plc and winner in our Rising Stars in Diversity category, sponsored by Aon. 
Julie please tell us what has happened in your career since winning the Rising Star awards back in June?
“My career has absolutely soared since winning the Rising Star for Diversity award in June. It has been the most amazing platform for me personally. Winning seemed to unlock a confidence that I never knew I had and since June I’ve been asked to present at both internal and external events on my career journey and also Zurich’s approach to diversity and inclusion. In September I hosted a panel discussion with industry experts on wellbeing and also appeared at the DiveIn Festival on a panel talking about mental health. My company has been incredibly supportive and I’m about to go on media training so I can be spokesperson on diversity and inclusion (officially), as I’ve already done a few press interviews now.
I guess the absolute highlight has been that I’ve just been promoted and am going to lead diversity and inclusion for Zurich Group, so my remit will now be international. This is an incredible step up and amazing recognition for me. I’m hoping I can now be an inspiring role model for other women looking to achieve success in the insurance industry.”
What top tips would you give to our other members to enhance their careers?
“Build your network. Your network is you career life-line – your future manager or mentor could be part of your developing network, and it gives you huge pool of experience and expertise to pull on if you have questions or problems you need help with.
Look at non-traditional way to develop your skills. I became a Girl Guiding Leader back in May 2015 as I wanted to develop my leadership skills whilst being able to influence young women and be a mentor at an early age. As well as leadership, I’ve really improved my listening and coaching skills.
Don’t be scared to change paths. I was sure I was going to be in communications until I retired but then I took a leap into HR, working on diversity and inclusion, and it reinvigorated me completed. I found a new passion for work and that energy has turned into the results I’ve seen today. Yes, it takes time to upskill again but it’s so worth it.”
Source: WeAreTheCity - Information and jobs portal for business women
2016 Rising Star winner celebrated at the Pride of Britain awards
A former Rising Star winner was celebrated at the Daily Mirror’s annual Pride of Britain awards last night.
Francesca Brown, managing director and CEO of Goals4Girls, was presented with the Prince’s Trust Young Achiever Award by Dame Maggie Smith and HRH Prince Charles in a star-studded ceremony.
Brown has overcome depression and family troubles to build Goals4Girls, a football development programme, which works with young women, aged between 11 and 16. The programme aims to break down barriers and reduce inactivity amongst young women in sport, by raising the aspiration, self-confidence, self-esteem and mind sets of young women; inspiring them to set out and achieve their goals.
Goals4Girls has developed over 700 young women and is working closely with organisations like London Youth, Sports England, Prince’s Trust, The FA, London FA and Tottenham Hotspur Ladies.
Alongside Goals4Girls, Fran is the ambassador for the Prince’s Trust and is a FA Qualified coach who has worked with young women from BAME, African and ethnic minority communities’ across London.
On winning the Pride of Britain award, Fran said, “The biggest reward is watching the girls walk out on to the pitch or at training.”
“It also feels great when you can see how far they have built up their communication, teamwork, self-esteem and confidence.”
“I’m passionate about helping other young women reach their full potential by giving them the encouragement and training they need, which is something I never had.”
Speaking of their decision the award judges said, “Fran has overcome so much, and she has such a positive message for the young people she works with.”
“She is inspirational in so many ways.”
The Daily Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards, in partnership with TSB, celebrates the achievements of remarkable people. Nominated by the public, the winners are inspiring people, of all ages, who have shown outstanding bravery, selfless acts and courage.
The full list of winners of the 2016 Pride of Britain awards include:
- Billy Muir – Community Partner
- Karen Johnson – Special Recognition
- Nikki Christou – Child of Courage
- Rhea Kara – GMB Young Fundraiser
- Team GB - Special Recognition
- Francesca Brown – Prince’s Trust Young Achiever
- Groves Family – Special Recognition
- Tilly Sawford – Child of Courage
- William Edwards – Outstanding bravery
- Simon and Tedd McDermott – Special Recognition
- Dr David Nott – Special Recognition
- Emergency services – Dr Simon Walsh, Dr Samy Sadek and paramedics Bill Leaning, Sam Margetts and Dean Bateman
- Dylan Graves – Special recognition
- Professor Stephen Hawking – Lifetime Achievement Award
WeAreTheCity India announce the 2016 Top 50 Rising Star Winners and Champions
We are extremely proud to announce our winners for WeAreTheCity India’s Top 50 Rising Star Awards 2016.
The 50 winners showcases remarkable talent across India from a wide variety of industries and includes individuals from leading firms such as BlackRock, Aon, EY, Barclays and RBS alongside founders of NGO’s, Charity workers and business owners.
The awards also celebrate our five Champions, all of which have been championing gender equality inside and outside of their organisations. We are also proud to announce the winner of our public vote and WeAreTheCity India’s first Man of the Year.
The awards, sponsored by Barclays, will now be celebrated on 9 November 2016 at an awards ceremony in Mumbai for winners, guests and sponsors.
To view the 2016 winners, please visit here >>>
In June 2016, WeAreTheCity India, with the support of Barclays, announced that it was launching the Rising Star Awards in India to recognise the achievements of the Indian female talent pipeline.
“Barclays are delighted to be associated with the inaugural WeAreTheCity India Rising Stars Awards. My personal congratulations to everyone who was nominated and to the winners of this year’s awards. I would like to specifically congratulate the Rising Star Champion winners, your support, guidance and enthusiasm for the future leaders in India makes all the difference.”
Mark McLane, Global Head of Diversity & Inclusion, Barclays
Over 500 nominations were received from across India and after an extensive judging period, a shortlist of 100 women and 10 champions were published. The shortlist was then opened to a public vote to determine the public choice for their winner based on the shortlisted individuals. The shortlist was then judged again by an esteemed panel of judges who helped WeAreTheCity to identify their list of 50 Rising Star winners, five senior champions and one public vote winner. WeAreTheCity also wanted to recognise a male individual who had shown extensive evidence of his commitment to gender. This award winner was identified by the WeAreTheCity team in the UK.
We would like to personally thank our finalist and Champion judges: Kunda Jadhav; Shilpi Singh; Saumya Vardhan; Meenakshi Advani; Darshana Ogale; Kavita Devghan; Surekha Shenoy; and Nisha Sinh, Apurva Purohit; Sarika Bhattacharya; and Archana Shiroor. They all gave their valuable time to assemble our shortlist and to help WeAreTheCity India to recognise the fantastic achievements of all of our amazing nominees.
“I am in total awe of the calibre of nominations this year and the outstanding achievements of all of our nominees. My sincere congratulations to this year’s winners, all of which have been able to demonstrate outstanding accomplishments via their professional roles or business activities. These Rising Stars are role models for their industries and professions and beacons of light for those who will follow in their footsteps, once again, a sincere well done to all of our winners.”
Vanessa Vallely, Managing Director of WeAreTheCity
By highlighting the accolades of inspirational female talent and champions, WeAreTheCity India hopes to encourage organisations and business leaders to recognise and invest in women as leaders of tomorrow and individual contributors within their respective industries.
WeAreTheCity India believes it has a responsibility to ensure that female talent, regardless of age and background, receives the necessary support, encouragement and skills to transition into key decision-making roles within their organisations.
Once again, we would like to congratulate all our winners and extend a sincere thanks to everyone who supported Rising Stars during 2016.
For more details about the awards, please visit here.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL LIST IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER
Source: WeAreTheCity - Information and jobs portal for business women
PUBLIC VOTE WINNER | Bhawna Malhotra | Barclays
I work in the Model Development Team in Barclays, with an involvement in ten geographical locations and eight products for Africa. My work includes developing Business and Impairment Models. I have spent three years in the current role with one promotion. Furthermore, I act as Secretary to Africa Risk Technical Committee which approves models.
In parallel, I have been mentoring graduates in the team. I design and conduct a variety of training schemes for graduates and other members of the unit, ranging from technical to credit life cycle. I also run a RnR programme for the Unit and have conducted various employee engagement initiatives.
Prior to Barclays, I spent a year working in Merchandise Analytics at one of the biggest Retail Chains of US. I completed my Masters in Quantitative Economics from Indian Statistical Institute Delhi, where I led the Placement Committee. In school, I have been part of the student council for three years and served as the Head Girl. Along with this, I have been part of the school badminton team and volleyball team, representing my school in zonals. I was an active participant in debates and declamations across three languages - English, Hindi and French.
WATC Man of the Year Award | Ashish Bhardwaj
I am a Management Graduate, and I have over 20 years of work experience in India's leading corporates. I am based in New Delhi.
I am currently working as a Sr.Manager - Customer Service. I have good experiences in multiple industries like capital goods, FMCG and telecom. About my background, both my parents are BA, MA, Mphil and Phd graduates and are retired Professors from Delhi University. My father was a Professor of English and my mother is a retired Professor of Sanskrit.
I have always supported women empowerment and I am very happy to be associated with WATC.in, which I think is doing amazing work.
Rising Stars 2016: So what happened next for our winners? | Part Four
In 2016, thanks to the help of a number of amazing supporters and sponsors, WeAreTheCity ran its Rising Star awards programme for a second year.
The aim of the awards was to identify 100 future leaders and role models under, management level, across 20 different industries. After more than 800 nominations and an intensive judging period, we finally arrived at our shortlist and opened the public vote.
The public vote resulted in over 27,000 votes from across 110 different countries and galvanized amazing support from our nominees’ networks, their companies, the press, as well as our own sponsors and supporters.
After a final judging process, we identified our amazing top 100 winners and celebrated their awards alongside our sponsors at a ceremony hosted by Barclays.
We spoke to our winners about life after winning a Rising Star award.
We spoke with to Kim Opszala, associate at Dentons and a winner in our Rising Stars in Law category, Sponsored by Reed Smith.
Kim please tell us what has happened in your career since winning the Rising Star awards back in June?
“Since winning the Rising Star in Law earlier this year my career has moved forward in a number of ways. Firstly, in July 2016 I was promoted internally to the next level of associate. Second, as a result of the awards, I met Funke Ambimbola who has since mentored me. Following my initial meeting with Funke I have become involved with Generation Success and Aspiring Solicitors and have recently been appointed as a school governor at Lord Grey, a local secondary school.
I am also in the process of being appointed as a trustee of St Francis’ Children’s Society, an independent adoption agency which places vulnerable children with new families and offers extensive adoption support. Without meeting Funke I would not have known that such opportunities would be available to me!
I have also continued to volunteer for Worktree, an employability education charity on a mission to help young people succeed in work by broadening their career awareness, stimulating their aspirations and requiring their communication skills.”
What top tips would you give to our other members to enhance their careers?
“My two top tips to enhance your career:
- Find a mentor – As a result of winning the award I was introduced to an award-winning lawyer who has helped me to broaden my skills set by making me aware of opportunities outside work. Having an experienced person to advise and support is essential for your personal and career development.
- Volunteer and give your time to help others – Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, gain new or use existing skills as well as make a big difference in your community. As a result of my volunteering work, I met a local charity in Milton Keynes which specialises in re-settling refugees. I was able to advise and assist them, on a pro-bono basis, on setting up their charity.”
Next we spoke to Babs Ofori-Acquah, Founder of Working Girl London and a winner in our Rising Stars in Technology category, sponsored by Morgan Stanley.
Babs please tell us what has happened in your career since winning the Rising Star awards back in June?
“My company was extremely supportive, publishing an article on my win on their website and sharing it across social media. This has certainly helped to raise my profile within the business, especially among more senior staff. I have been allowed to take on more responsibility by training the new starters within our team and I am now on track for a promotion despite having only been at the company for eight months!
Being shortlisted as Scale Up of the Year in the National Business Awards, my company had to pitch to the judges. I was chosen to pitch alongside our CEO and Head of PR, which was an excellent opportunity. I am confident that my win at the Rising Star awards has played a huge part in these successes and I’m sure it will continue to open doors!”
What top tips would you give to our other members to enhance their careers?
“My number one top tip in getting ahead at work is – don’t be afraid to ask. Whether it is being part of a project, getting a promotion/pay rise or improving an internal process, you will get a lot further if you simply ask. rather than waiting for things to be handed to you. The worst possible thing that can happen is hearing the word ‘No’ and even in this case, no usually just means ‘not right now’.
“My other top tip is to tell people about your successes. Similarly to the point above, others won’t always notice your achievements. While you don’t want to come across as arrogant, it is still important to let others know how you contribute to the team and organisation as a whole.”
Source: WeAreTheCity - Information and jobs portal for business women