WeAreTheCity presented the winners of the Top 100 Rising Star awards with their trophies last night, in a ceremony at Barclays, London.
Over 200 winners, sponsors, judges and guests attended and enjoyed a champagne reception. The audience were welcomed by Vanessa Vallely, WeAreTheCity Managing Director; Sally Clark, Chief Internal Auditor, Barclays; and Caroline Dinenage, MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, and Family Justice Equalities.
After congratulating the Top 100 winners, Sally Clark spoke of the importance of networking and urged the audience to connect with each other. She said, “Networking was the last thing I wanted to do, but I realise now that was a failure on my part”
“So make sure you can find a new friend and I wish you all a fabulous evening.”
Following on, Caroline Dinenage, MP said, “It is lovely to be here this evening. It feels like yesterday I was speaking at last year’s awards.”
“I am really pleased to be speaking today because these awards are promoting role models, and that is exactly what we need to do.”
“We all need allies. Madeleine Albright once said, ‘there is a special place in hell for women who do not help other women’, and I’m a firm believer in that.”
“You are all winners, all stars and all role models to those who come after you.”
Broadcaster and journalist, Brenda Emmanus, hosted the awards ceremony, sponsored by Barclays. Congratulating the winners, Emmanus said, “You are all diamonds in the rough that are about to shake up the establishment.”
“Where you are right now is exactly where you are supposed to be. You are about to make serious strides.”
“I commend you for where you are so far, and I commend those behind you who have got you this far.”
“This is an army and we march forward together.”
During the interval, the audience were treated to surprise entertainment from the North London Military Wives Choir. The choir delivered a moving performance and received a standing ovation from the audience.
Closing the awards, Emmanus left the crowd with inspiring words, saying, “When God created women, he was simply showing off.”
“We don’t get bitter, we get better.”
The Rising Star awards were introduced to showcase the UK pipeline of female talent below management level and to create 100 female role models across 20 different industries and professions as well as celebrating the hard work and support of our Rising Star Champions.
The winners were narrowed down from over 800 nominations and were judged by a panel of 21 independent judges. Over 28,000 public votes were received for the 200 shortlisted nominees from across 118 countries.
The winners of each category can be found in alphabetical order below. Full details of each winner can be found here.
