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Shining a spotlight on the female talent pipeline

NOW IN their second year, the WeAreTheCity (WATC) Rising Star Awards are the first to focus on the UK’s female talent pipeline below management level.

Through these awards, 100 individual female contributors that represent the leaders and role models of tomorrow, will be celebrate.

WATC hopes that by raising the profile of their short list and winners, they will also encourage organisations to consider how they strengthen the development of their female pipeline in the future.‬‬

This year WATC is also pleased to announce a new category to their awards, Rising Star Champions, which recognises the efforts of senior leaders, male and female, who are actively supporting the female pipeline outside of their corporate responsibilities.

Vanessa Vallely, founder and CEO of WeAreTheCity, said: "The focus on increasing the number of women on boards in the UK over the past few years has been incredibly successful. We now need to focus on helping to highlight women who will be future managers and directors within our organisations.

"The UK has an abundance of female talent of all ages but we need to give these women the chance to shine. Given the success of the Rising Star Awards in 2015 and the ongoing achievements of our winners, we decided to double the amount of awards winners from 50 to 100 and extend our reach across 20 industries. Expanding the awards in the UK and subsequently into India later in 2016 is all part of WeAreTheCity’s strategic objective of highlighting the achievements of 500 pipeline women over the next five years."

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 their organisations.

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

Mark McLane, managing director, global head of diversity and inclusion at Barclays PLC said: “The need for more women in senior leadership roles is widely recognised. At Barclays, we want to go further – we believe in cultivating a pipeline of female talent across all levels of the organisation, from the executive assistant right through to the boardroom. These awards recognise the considerable achievements of talented women and our sponsorship reflects our commitment to support the women that come through our ranks to stay until leadership.”

The WATC awards will be officially launched ‪on Monday (Feb 1) and are sponsored by Barclays and supported by leading organisations including AON, Bloomberg, BNY Mellon, Cancer Research UK (Women of Influence), Computer Weekly, Executive and Personal Assistants Association, EY, The Guardian Women in Leadership, JournoLink, Keir, Lloyd’s, Inclusive Networks, ISS, Morgan Stanley, Newton Investment Management, Oliver Wyman, PA Consulting, Pedalsure, PwC, Reed Smith, Societe Generale, Square Mile, Twenty Recruitment, University of Chicago Booth School of Business, The Voice Newspaper, Virgin Media Business and Worldpay.‬‬

The nominations process also opens on Monday ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬for all categories and will take place online at wearethecity.com. A shortlist of 10 women from each industry category chosen by an esteemed panel of judges will be published towards the end of April. The shortlist will then be open to a public vote.

Final judging will take place throughout May when our judges will choose the final five winners from each of the 20 categories.

The results of the public vote will also be factored into the final scores. The top 100 rising stars will be announced in 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.

For more information, click here or email risingstars@wearethecity.com

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