WATC Content Team

These awards will recognise and celebrate 100 female individual contributors across 20 different industries that represent the leaders & role models of tomorrow.We are extremely proud to receive the support of so many individuals and organisations for this years Rising Star awards. We would like to extend our sincere thanks for their words of encouragement and for helping us to celebrate the achievements of the female leaders and role models of tomorrow.

READ WHAT OUR SPONSORS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE RISING STAR AWARDS HERE

Judging the Rising star awards is no easy task. Several of the judges from last years awards stated it was one of the hardest judging activities they have ever undertaken due to the amazing achievements of the women who were nominated. We expect this year will be no different!

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.

We are also proud to welcome back five of our 2016 judges, Simone Roche, Northern Power Women, Mairi McHaffie, Scene Change & Coaching Squared, Paul Sesay, The National Diversity Awards, Maggie Berry, WE Connect International and Miranda Brawn, Daiwa Capital Markets & the Black Cultural Archives.

We are also honoured to introduce 23 new judges for this years awards from The Times, the Government Equalities Office, BBC, Women’s Equality Party, House of Lords, African Caribbean Business Network, Sodexo, RBS, Chartered Insurance Institute, PwC, Smart Works, HSBC, Aviva Investors, The FISER Group, Purple Space, Cancer Research UK, Centre for Synchronous Leadership and Roche UK.

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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.

Our Rising Star awards are the only awards of their kind to focus solely on the pipeline of female talent below a management level. The aim of the 2017 awards is to recognise and celebrate 100 female role models and individual contributors across 20 different industries who represent the future leaders of tomorrow.

MEET OUR JUDGES NOW

The aim of the awards was to identify 100 future leaders and role models under, management level, across 10 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 112 different countries and galvanised 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.

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We spoke to our winners about life after winning a Rising Star award.

First we spoke with Alexandra Merisoiu, Founder and Coach of The Merisoiu Technique – Institute Of Health & Human Movement, and a winner in our Rising Stars in Sport Category, sponsored by Pedalsure.

Alexandra, tell us what has happened in your career since winning the Rising Star awards back in June?

“Firstly I added the Rising Star In Sport Award on my website, for everyone to see. In the months following the award my following increased a lot faster than before, which I was pleased about. I joined AirBnb on their Experience Hosts programme, so now I am experience host on their website, for the London area.

Pretty good collaboration if you ask me. I had a series of interviews and asked to speak at summits throughout the year which raised my profile and grew my business. I was contacted to go live on BBC radio. I believe the Rising Star awards also raised my profile in the industry and in the eyes of prospective clients. My business grew at a steady pace since June 2016.”

What top tips would you give to our other members to enhance their careers?

“Everyone sees the results you have, everyone sees you waving from the podium with a medal around your neck. What no one sees is what happens behind closed doors, and that is the effort, the work, the daily grind. It’s what you do behind scenes, how much you put into being successful when no one is looking that’ll place you at the top of you company and/or your industry. If you look at athletes they train for years to perform for 2 min in front of the public and judges.

Another thing is discipline. Some people attach negative feelings to discipline, however without it nothing would be done. Discipline means you brush your teeth every day, you dress up to go to the office every day, and you get work done. Discipline gets things done.

Lastly consistency. Nothing can be achieved without being consistent. Looking again at athletes, they practice the same routine hundreds and thousands of times. Sometimes it’s one tiny technique they practice, it is drilled into them. And it is drilled every day, every week, every month. Why? Because consistent practice leads to success.

Of course there are many other skills and abilities that come into being successful but these are my top ones I believe. The ones that got me from nothing to being recognized in my industry, being invited to interviews, to writing in newspapers, receiving awards, and of course making a living doing what I love.”

Next we spoke to Claudine Adeyemi, Associate at Mishcon de Reya, and winner of our Rising Stars in Law category, sponsored by ReedSmith.

Claudine, please tell us what has happened in your career since winning the Rising Star awards back in June?

“Since winning the Rising Star award in June 2016, I am continuing to excel, taking on more responsibility for my cases.  I attended my first mediation recently, was successful in court on an application I made and successfully defended an application in the High Court. I have also featured on Mishcon de Reya’s “Mishcon Shapers” podcast.  My interview with Mishcon’s Director of Business Development, Eliott Moss is available for prospective lawyers to listen to in order to find out more about life at Mishcon.

In October, I spoke to an audience of 200-300 people at the Law Society for their annual Black History Month Inspiration Evening sharing my story and providing the audience with my top tips for success.

Since winning the Rising Star award I have also delivered talks and workshops to young people, including at the Law Society’s widening school participation day and to a church. I also sat on the panel for a young entrepreneur competition at the Southbank Centre’s STRIVE Festival.

I am also now a social mobility ambassador for the Law Society. In this role, I am supporting the Law Society in their mission to ensure that prospective lawyers understand that the legal sector is open to them to pursue successful careers.

I am featured in the exhibit in the main lobby of the Law Society and they have shared my story in written and video format on their website in a bid to inspire more people from less privileged backgrounds to consider a career in the profession.

With The Student Development Co. we also launched our mobile app, Career Ear. Career Ear is an app which allows young people thinking about their careers to ask career-related questions with professionals providing responses.  It is the UK’s first Q&A careers advice app and is a revolutionary approach to dealing with the lack of access to quality careers advice and support, particularly for marginalised groups.

I have also been a finalist in the National Diversity Awards (Positive Role Model (Age)) and Black British Business Awards (Rising Star in Professional Services) and recently, I was celebrated as part of the #LessOrdinaryWomen campaign run by consultancy company, A Life Less Ordinary Wanted.”

What top tips would you give to our other members to enhance their careers?

“The main motto that I absolutely live by is “Set goals. Achieve. Repeat”.  I strongly believe that if we set (SMART) goals for ourselves, achieve those (not forgetting to celebrate our achievements) and get into the habit of engaging in the goal-setting process, there will be no limits to what we can achieve – in our careers and beyond.

In addition to this, I am constantly reminded how important it is to be yourself.  Do not underestimate the value that you can already add to an organisation or business just by being you having the perspective and experiences that you’ve had whether because of your culture, being a woman, or any other characteristic.  Yes, it is important to develop and improve and invest in yourself to be better, but that is very different to changing altogether to sing to someone else’s tune.”

Next we spoke to Rupal Kantaria, Social Impact Program Manager at Olvier Wyman, and winner of the Rising Stars in Diversity category, sponsored by Aon.

Rupal, tell us what has happened in your career since winning the Rising Star awards back in June?

“I was also shortlisted for two other awards recognising female talent – Asian Woman of the Year and Precious awards for outstanding woman in banking and finance.”

What top tips would you give to our other members to enhance their careers?

“Do not be afraid or embarrassed of publicity, understand your personal brand and actively build your profile.”

WeAreTheCity would like to extend our sincere thanks to all of our Rising Stars for sharing their successes with us. We are sure you will agree that they are all achieving amazing things and offering sound advice to future Rising Stars.

We look forward to featuring more of our Rising Stars next week. Please note our Rising Star programme for 2017 will open 1 February 2017.

On 26 Jan, our previous Rising Star award winners joined forces via twitter to share their experience of the awards. During the tweet chat we asked our awards alumni why individuals should consider entering Rising Stars and to share what they had achieved since winning their awards.

There were so many fantastic stories and tips during the tweet chat and we would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who took part.

You can see the full conversation by looking up #watctop100 on Twitter or by following @WATC_Updates.

Nominations for this year’s awards open on 01 February via the Rising Star website

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@WATC_Updates Great way to recognise colleagues – just being
nominated boosts their confidence

— Sarah Chapman (@_schapman) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates I gained self confidence, felt supported by my company, &ultimately gained a promotion less than 6 months after! #watctop100

— Alex Chitty (@chittchitt) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates We Are The City awards helps your visibility internally and externally…and the career support post-awards are excellent. #watctop100

— Khalia D. Newell (@khalia_newell) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates It raised my profile & my network. I’m now connected globally with a wide source of knowledge at my fingertips #watctop100

— Debbie Grimshaw (@DebbieG_EA) January 26, 2017

To shine a light on the fantastic range of female talent that London, and the world has to offer https://t.co/VdK5exWhL1

— Gormley & Gamble (@gormley_gamble) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates Too many – the support from the #WATC community is fantastic! Great to be involved with such inspirational people #watctop100

— Danielle Ayres (@DAyresSolicitor) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates Putting aside fantastic support & great networking opportunities, it’s a real boost to get recognition for what we do #why

— Alison Ure (@TheOriginalAliG) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates I was promoted from an account coordinator to a senior auditor within months of winning the award!

— Bea (@bea_1922) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates #watctop100 To celebrate and support the female talent smashing through the glass ceiling

— Victoria Smith (@torismithtweets) January 26, 2017

Support, recognition, ability to shed light on work your passionate about. Showing others that they can make it too! #wrtctop100 https://t.co/qNzOUXQav2

— Luma Zitani (@LumaZitani) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates Yes. Finalist for the Precious awards 2016 in Finance. I will be using @WATC_Updates to help find my next role (and promotion). #watctop100

— Khalia D. Newell (@khalia_newell) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates this has really taught me to be proud of your achievements- many people never give themselves enough credit

— Caroline Andrews (@carand2015) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates Careers Club events are engaging and challenging. Next session: @Aon 8th Feb…Register and join! Worth the investment. #watctop100

— Khalia D. Newell (@khalia_newell) January 26, 2017

We all know another female who just needs that lift to help them take another step forward in their career #payitforward with #watctop100 https://t.co/2S77x4P7fY

— Debbie Grimshaw (@DebbieG_EA) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates We couldn’t have done it without Vanessa and the team supporting us! Thank you! #watctop100 #femalepipeline

— Danielle Ayres (@DAyresSolicitor) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates without a doubt, we have to build each other up and this is the perfect way to do it! pic.twitter.com/9XcN5TI4Io

— Ellie Ulrich (@Ellie_Ulrich) January 26, 2017

@WATC_Updates #watctop100 #justdoit what have you got to lose?!

— Hannah Cotton (@HannahCaC79) January 26, 2017

WeAreTheCity is delighted to announce that nominations for their 2017 Top 100 Rising Star Awards are now open.  

NOMINATE NOW

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.

Recognising that careers for women may follow different timescales, the Top 100 Rising Star 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.

“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”

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– Chris Duncan, Managing Director, Times Newspapers Ltd

“The Women’s Equality Party is delighted to partner the Rising Star Awards, which recognise excellence and innovation from women in business and across working life. Equality of opportunity for working women is one of our party’s core objectives, so WE are pleased to see so many wonderful nominees working towards this goal. We’re delighted, too, that these awards showcase the talents of outstanding role models in many other areas of public and private life.”

– Sophie Walker, Leader, Women’s Equality Party

WeAreTheCity will use its extensive reach across the UK & Ireland to find 100 high-achieving women across 20 key industries and professions.

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 opens today, 01 February 2017, for all categories. A shortlist of ten women from each industry category will be 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.

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 Construction, sponsor TBA
• 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 Fintech, sponsored by Streets Consulting
• Rising Stars in HR & Recruitment, sponsored by LinkedIn
• 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 Facilities Management, sponsored by Kier
• Rising Stars in Public Sector, sponsored by Government Digital Service (GDS)
• 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

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

Criteria for entries for Rising Star awards

Awards Timeline

• Nominations open: 01 Feb 17
• Nominations close: 24 Mar 17
• 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

If you have any additional questions about the awards, please contact Info@wearethecity.com. For details of entry criteria, please visit here

* There is no public vote of support for the Champion of the year or Company of the year award

NOMINATE NOW

The London Mayor’s Office have shown their support for WeAreTheCity’s 2017 Rising Star Awards and emerging female talent in the UK.

Speaking about the awards, Deputy Mayor for Business, Rajesh Agrawal said, “I am delighted to support these awards which shine a light on emerging female business talent in the capital and around the country.

“The Mayor and I are determined to remove any barriers to women enjoying equal success by adopting the highest possible standards for fair pay, good working conditions and gender equality in business.

“Awards such as this will take us closer to smashing the glass ceiling and help us to develop existing strong business links between London and India.”

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For the third year running, these highly successful awards will celebrate 100 individual female contributors who represent the leaders and role models of tomorrow. These individuals will join an alumni of 200 previous winners from 2015/2016 across the UK and India. Nominations are open until 24 March 2017.

The 2017 awards are headline sponsored by The Times and The Sunday Times. Category sponsors include an array of leading FTSE 100 companies and industry leaders: Aon, Barclays, Bloomberg, Citi, CR-UK, EY, EDIT Development, Executive Secretary, Kier, LinkedIn, Lloyd’s, Morgan Stanley, Northern Trust, Oliver Wyman, PedalSure, Reed Smith, Societe Generale, Streets Consulting, The Royal Navy, Worldpay and 3M.

WeAreTheCity are also proud to announce the Company of the Year award, a new category for 2017. The award recognises the achievements of a company who can clearly demonstrate that they are actively supporting and developing their female talent pipeline through initiatives, training, development programmes and/or internal employee relations groups.

The awards are once again looking for Rising Star Champions, which acknowledges the efforts of both male and female senior leaders, who are supporting the pipeline outside of their corporate responsibilities.

Nominations are open via risingstars.wearethecity.com. A shortlist of ten women chosen by a judging panel published 15 May, followed by an open public vote. The Top 100 Rising Stars winners will be announced 19 June followed by a celebratory evening reception at News UK’s HQ, taking place on 12 July.

Founded in 2015, the awards continue to play a vital part in highlighting female talent across the country. Recognising that careers for women may follow different timescales, the Rising Star awards do not have any age restrictions. 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. WeAreTheCity will use its extensive reach across the UK and Ireland to find 100 high-achieving women across key industries and professions.

To find out more about the Rising Star Awards and to nominate, click here.

Last year, through our Rising Star awards WeAreTheCity highlighted the achievements of 100 future leaders and role models across 20 different industries and professions. We are proud to announce that our previous winners have gone on to achieve phenomenal success. You can read about some of their achievements here.

“Since winning the Rising Star award in Diversity award in 2016, I have been promoted from UK Diversity and Inclusion Manager to Head of Diversity and Inclusion. This award has been instrumental in raising my profile and credibility both inside Zurich and externally.” – Julie Thomas, Zurich

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Due to the success of these awards, WeAreTheCity are now seeking to recognise the achievements of a further 100 role models and future female leaders in 2017, however we cannot do this without your nominations!

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.

NOMINATE NOW

“It has been great being involved with WeAreTheCity. Since winning the Rising Star in Law award in 2016, I have been promoted to a senior associate.” – Danielle Ayres, Gorvins Solicitors

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.

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.

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.

Nominations will take place online via the Rising Stars website. For details of the criteria to enter the awards, click here.

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 Construction, sponsor TBA
• Rising Stars in Consulting, sponsored by EY
• Rising Stars in Defence, sponsor Royal Navy
• 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 Fintech, sponsored by Streets Consulting
• Rising Stars in HR & Recruitment, sponsored by LinkedIn
• 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 Facilities Management, 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

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 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: w/c 12 Jul 17

If you have any additional questions about the awards, please contact Info@wearethecity.com. For details of entry criteria, please visit here

* There is no public vote of support for the Champion of the year or Company of the year award

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