WeAreTheCity reveals top 100 Female Rising Stars across 20 industries

Today, WeAreTheCity released the names of its top 100 female Rising Stars, as part of its annual awards programme, to celebrate the female talent pipeline across the UK.

The prestigious Rising Star awards, now in their fourth year, aim to showcase the sheer volume of female talent that exists across our industries and to create role models for the future.

The awards focus on celebrating the achievements of women under a management level regardless of age. Over the past four years, WeAreTheCity has built up an alumni of 400 award’s winners through its Rising Star Awards in the UK and India and through its TechWomen50 Award.

Over 78 of the award’s alumni have since been promoted by their organisations as well as going on to win additional awards.

This year’s winners include the British Army’s Ice Maidens, who became the first women to cross Antarctica; Krystal Archer, SuperFoxx, who was one of the first female DJ’s for the Ministry of Sound; and Sophie Ainsworth, Founder of RAiISE (Raising Awareness of Invisible Illnesses in Schools and Education); as well as a number of other inspiring women who continue to push their boundaries in order to achieve their full potential.

Thanks to Bloomberg, the awards continue to celebrate Rising Star Champions, recognising the efforts of senior leaders who are actively supporting the female pipeline. Winners of this category include Captain Ellie Ablett MBE, Royal Navy; Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, Women in Leadership Publication; and Zaheer Jaffary, Carlton Bolling High School.

The awards also celebrate outstanding organisations in the Company of the Year category. The award, sponsored by CMI Women, recognises the achievements of a company who can clearly demonstrate that it is actively supporting its female talent pipeline through its initiatives, training, development programmes, internal employee relations and diversity network groups. This year’s Company of the Year winner is Barclays.

Over 1,250 entries were judged by a panel of 54 independent judges including Stig Abell, Editor & Publisher of The Times Literary Supplement; Wing Commander Sarah Maskell MBE, Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Royal Air Force; and Emma Cusdin, People Director, Aviva Investors.

During the month of May, over 35,000 public votes from 110 countries were received for the 200 shortlisted nominees.

Vanessa Valley OBE, Managing Director of WeAreTheCity, said, “It has been a total honour to run this year’s awards and highlight the achievements of so many amazing women. We are exceptionally proud that year on year our Rising Star community continues to grow and most importantly that we continue to uncover and showcase emerging leaders and role models from across the UK. Not only do these awards shine a spotlight on the female talent pipeline, but they should also be seen as a call to action for all organistions to continue to invest in their female talent pool. Myself, my team, our sponsors, judges and supporters are very much looking forward to celebrating with all of our winners at the NewsUK on 12 July”.

The top five winners for each category will be celebrated at a prestigious awards ceremony on 12 July at NewsUK’s headquarters in London.

Headline sponsored by The Times & The Sunday Times, the awards are supported by leading organisations including 3M, Accenture, Aon, Barclays, Bloomberg, Cancer Research UK, CMI Women, Edit Development, EPAA, Jessica Huie Public Relations (JHPR), Jobbio, Kier, Lloyds Banking Group, Lloyd’s, Northern Trust, PedalSure, Reed Smith, Royal Navy, SAGE and Sodexo.

Rising Stars in Banking & Capital Markets – Sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group

·     Abisola Barber, Barclays

·     Lee Anne Duffy, HSBC

·     Omolade Adebisi, Mizuho Bank

·     Elizabeth Bailey, Barclays

·     Sarah Tolley, Northern Trust

 

Rising Stars in Charity – Sponsored by Cancer Research UK

·     Sophie Ball, Apps For Good

·     Verena Hefti, Leaders Plus

·     Sophie Ainsworth, RAiISE

·     Ayodele Jegede, Anglo American

·     Rabia Nasimi, ACAA

 

Rising Stars in Consultancy

·     Kirstie Watson, Kirstie Watson

·     Louise O’Sullivan, IBM

·     Darryl Brissett-Dowe, Capita

·     Rhiannon Evans, Deloitte

·     Harjinder Kaur, PwC

 

Rising Stars in Defence – Sponsored by The Royal Navy

·     Nadia Johnson, Thales UK

·     Samantha Neath, BAE Systems

·     Caroline Gadsby-Bruce, Accenture

·     Rebecca Fyans, Royal Navy

·     Beth Kerr, Thales UK

 

Rising Stars in Digital – Sponsored by Barclays

·     Karolina Szudrzynska, Mastercard

·     Rania Svoronou, IBM

·     Katrina Young, Katrina Young Consulting

·     Bobbie Mansfield, XL Caitlin

·     Maya Dibley, DIT

 

Rising Stars in Diversity – Sponsored by Aon

·     Hardeep Kundan, EY

·     Sonal Shah, Barclays

·     Paige Horton, Citi

·     Lauren Seaman, Deutsche Bank

·     Joanna Abeyie, Hyden

 

Rising Stars in EA & PA – Sponsored by EPAA

·     Bianca Angelico, Sodexo

·     Kim Glover, Michel Mores

·     Jessica Coggins, University of the West of England

·     Jennifer Smith, Teens and Toddlers

·     Yvonne Darling, Colt Technology

 

Rising Stars in Education & Academia – Sponsored by EDIT Development

·     Amanda Ford, West College Scotland

·     Susie Wolstenholme, London South Bank University

·     Sumanjit Gill, UCL

·     Imani Shola Jeffers, Imani Shola

·     Tina McDonald, Avalanche Coaching

 

Rising Stars – Entrepreneurs & Start-ups – Sponsored by SAGE

·     Krystal Archer, SuperFoxx

·     Joana Baptista, Oxford High School GDST

·     Anna Frankowska, Nightset

·     Sukhi Jutla, MarketOrders

·     Helen Davies, Status Products

 

Rising Stars in Facilities, Property & Construction – Sponsored by Kier

·     Yodaly Sierra-Rubio, CBRE

·     Georgina Demetri, London Underground

·     Sophia Nesro, ISG

·     Rosanna Lawn, Yoo

·     Hazel Richards, CBRE

 

Rising Stars in Healthcare – Sponsored by Sodexo

·     Leanne Armitage, St George’s

·     Vijay Kunadian, Newcastle University

·     Adama Ibrahim, Biogen

·     Thorrun Govind, Sykes Chemist

·     Michelle Sharples, Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust

 

Rising Stars in HR & Recruitment – Sponsored by Jobbio

·     Toni Osoba, Accenture

·     Parisa Namazi, Cicero Group

·     Hessie Coleman, Starling Bank

·     Cheryl Hart, DXC Technology

·     Alana Drew, The Marketing Store

 

Rising Stars in Insurance – Sponsored by Lloyd’s Insurance

·     Ella Walters, PwC

·     Jane Harley, Lloyd’s

·     Jennifer Kested, AIG Europe Ltd

·     Samantha Eustace, Zurich

·     Danielle Treharne, BIMA

 

Rising Stars in Investment Management – Sponsored by Northern Trust

·     Eloise Veljovic, Royal Bank of Canada

·     Senasa Rajendramoorthy, Investec Asset Management

·     Victoria Pelishatska, Bloomberg

·     Erika Oteri, Bloomberg

·     Lucy Walker, Sarasin & Partners

 

Rising Stars in Law (The Lynne Freeman Award) – Sponsored by Reed Smith

·     Coleen Mensa, EY

·     Victoria Anderson, Carter-Ruck

·     Rosie Watterson, Herbert Smith Freehills

·     Kayleigh Leonie, TandonHildebrand

·     Shivanjli Rajput, Eric Robinson Solicitors

 

Rising Stars in Media & Journalism

·     Sherah Beckley, Thomson Reuters

·     Lizzi Doyle, Radio City

·     Remel Okeke Wickham, Remel London

·     Charlie Leech, Bloomberg

·     Katie Litchfield, Financial Times

 

Rising Stars in PR, Marketing & Communications – Sponsored by Jessica Huie PR (JHPR)

·     Elizabeth Uviebinene, HSBC

·     Ina Yulo, BrightTALK

·     Claire Tolley, Mastercard

·     Harriet Allner, Common Industry

·     Ramat Tejani, GSMA

 

Rising Stars in Science & Engineering – Sponsored by 3M

·     Tara Shirvani, European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (ENRD)

·     Katherine Tobin, WSP

·     Najwa Jawahar, WSP

·     Helen McGloin, Rolls Royce Plc

·     Geetha Srinivasan, Queen’s University Belfast

 

Rising Stars in Sport – Sponsored by PedalSure

·     Stacey Copeland, Stacey Copeland

·     Ice Maidens, British Army

·     Hanfia Khan, Carlton Bolling College

·     Abi Carpenter, CAA

·     Misba Khan, Women’s Euro Arabian North Pole Expedition

 

Rising Stars in Technology – Sponsored by Accenture

·     Oishi Deb, Rolls Royce

·     Nicky Zachariou, Government Digital Services

·     Xiao-Si Selina Wang, BT

·     Desy Kristianti, Deloitte

·     Seren Davis, Elsevier

 

Rising Stars Champions – Sponsored by CMI Women

·     Captain Ellie Ablett MBE, Royal Navy

·     Carol Stewart, Abounding Solutions

·     Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, Women in Leadership Publication

·     Zaheer Jaffary, Carlton Bolling High School

·     Dominie Moss, The Return Hub

 

Rising Stars Company of the Year – Sponsored by Bloomberg

·     Barclays