The Women in Innovation Awards: WIN's Inaugural Awards Program and Gala
Now that nomination applications are open, we sat down with WIN’s Global Development Lead and Founder of the WIN Awards, Melissa Beight, to learn more about the program, inspiration behind the idea, and how you can nominate yourself or someone else.
What is the WIN Awards?
The WIN Awards is an awards program and gala that shines a spotlight on innovations setting a new standard and individuals challenging the status quo, from senior women, to the next generation of rising stars, to champions helping further the careers of women in innovation.
The Innovators will recognize trailblazers across the following two categories:
Innovators: individuals re-defining their world of work and closing the gender gap in innovation:
Leader: Proven track record in driving impact in innovation and supporting others to change the face of leadership over the span of your career.
Rising Star: Established future talent who have a demonstrated trajectory in innovation.
Champion: Men or women with a demonstrated commitment to championing future leaders and empowering women to accelerate in their innovation careers.
Innovations: innovations shaking up their industries by making possible a fairer, more equitable future for all.
General Innovations: Products, services, or experiences that are inventive and commercially successful
Innovations for Equity: A product, service, or experience that is inventive, commercially successful, and plays a role in creating a more equitable environment for its user
Innovations in eCommerce: a product, service, process, or experience that is disrupting the eCommerce industry and altering the online shopping experience like never before. Sponsored by Amazing Women in eCommerce (AWIE) and judged by AWIE honorees/nominees.
“The WIN Awards is an awards program and gala that shines a spotlight on innovations setting a new standard and individuals challenging the status quo.”
Where did the idea come from?
At WIN, we’re always innovating - considering new products and programs we can launch to create the conditions for women to accelerate in innovation. Last summer we asked ourselves - what’s missing? What should we be doing to create the conditions for more women to advance into innovation leadership?
There are so many incredible women who are defining - and designing - better futures for us all, yet many don’t get spotlighted or recognized as often as they should. Critical to closing the gender gap in innovation is raising the profiles of and celebrating the women who are making a significant impact on the world around us. More importantly, we know that PR and thought leadership is critical towards helping women progress in their careers and is even required for certain visas.
We believe an awards program is the ideal way to recognize innovators, champions, and innovations, and further, play a key role in defining the path to innovation leadership in an industry that is notoriously undefined.
Where did the name come from?
We definitely went back and forth with creating a name, and eventually, realized it was right in front of us the entire time. The name itself is straightforward; while it doesn’t veer from our overarching identity, it reinforces our unique value proposition: that we have created a one-of-a-kind accolades to champion women and diversity in the innovation space. We are a group of change-makers, trailblazers, ideators - innovators at heart - and so too are individuals and inventions that we are looking to spotlight.
“The name itself is straightforward; while it doesn’t veer from our overarching identity, it reinforces our unique value proposition.”
How does the nomination process work?
We’ve made the entry process as seamless as possible. From submission criteria to the nomination form to FAQs, all information can be found on our application page.
Our panel of executives, entrepreneurs, and influencers will consider a variety of factors, including funding, inventiveness, revenue, and results. Nominee shortlists will be shared with a panel of subject matter experts who will determine finalists for their assigned categories.
When is the deadline to apply?
The deadline to apply is April 1st. Our panel of judges will then review every application, and the Shortlist announced in May/June 2022. Our Shortlisted applicants will be able to join us for our virtual Awards Gala, where the winners of each award will be revealed. Awards Gala date TBD.
Can you give a sneak peak of the judges?
Absolutely! We’re really excited about our judges. They’re a broad set of leaders with different backgrounds, experiences, and mindsets. They are individuals who have achieved success in innovation and share our mission to close the gap in innovation leadership.
Alfia Ilicheva - Product Management, Client Service @ Bridgewater Associates | Co-found and board director for WIN
Lauryn N. Nwankpa - Co-Managing Director @ Brand Citizens
Élida Cruz - VP Head of Design, Commercial and Small Business @ Capital One
Jenny Danzi - New Platform Innovation @ PepsiCo | WIN Board Director and Senior Director
Feel free to check out the WIN Awards site to learn more about the awards, eligibility criteria, key dates, and judges. We will continue to update the page as information evolves.
Once again, a huge thank you to Melissa Beight for sharing the inspiration behind this trail-blazing awards program. We’d also like to extend our thanks to the members of the WIN Awards team, Hannah Riley, Kamilla Sadekova, Lindsay Liu, Lucia Corry, Marina Chilingaryan , Ashley O’Conner, Sabrina Romviel, Zoia Kozakov, Sonya Genesius and Arielle Goodman. Without you all, none of this would have been possible.