WEQUAL-GLOBAL
17.11.2020 15:44:08 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Twenty-four female executives of leading EMEA companies have been identified as having the leadership traits for top level C-suite positions. The WeQual Awards (www.wequal.com/awards ) identify already successful senior women who are one level below C-suite, and are aimed at tackling the slow progress in appointing women to executive roles.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201117005907/en/
A quarter of the winners of previous UK and US WeQual Awards have since been promoted to the executive committees of FTSE and Fortune 500 companies.
“The glass-ceiling concept has been an issue for decades, and the drop-off is steepest just below the C-suite, so I launched WeQual to champion gender equality at the top,” says Katie Litchfield , founder and CEO of WeQual.
The EMEA finalists are from a wide range of sectors and companies, including Orange, Unilever, Schneider Electric, Bayer Consumer Health, ENGIE, KCB Group, Sodexo, Enel Group, L'Oréal, Mondi Group, Bureau Veritas, Standard Chartered, Veolia Environnement, Ericsson, Fresenius Medical Care, AkzoNobel, Ooredoo Qatar, Danone, Aryzta.
The 24 finalists were assessed against seven criteria: Leadership, Cognitive Ability, Integrity, Drive & Resilience, Equality, Knowledge of the Business, and Personal Development. All candidates were assessed blind with no name or company revealed in their application.
Eight executive interviewers will hold 30-minute interviews with the three finalists in their category before each choosing a category winner: Brand Innovation, Commercial Performance, Digital Impact, Finance, Head of Region, People Excellence, Strategy Development, and Transformational Leadership.
The finalists will be announced in December 2020.
Among supporters of the awards are Ann Cairns, Executive Chair of Mastercard and Global Chair of the gender equality campaign group ‘30% Club’; Sir Ian Cheshire, Chairman of Barclays; Dame Inga Beale; and Ron Kalifa OBE of Network International. They are part of a roster of well-known C-suite executives who will now choose eight category winners.
Sir Ian Cheshire says: "These awards are among the first to target women at this level. We believe building awareness of these talented people, as well as connecting them to each other, is an important step in improving diversity at top levels of business.”
This senior group of 24 executives will become members of the WeQual Club and join the existing 72 senior FTSE and Fortune 500 female executives.
(Ends)
Notes to editors
Methodology: The eight assessment questions were developed from a research-based meta-analysis of the factors and characteristics that mark leaders as different from non-leaders (Kirkpatrick and Locke, 1991). They were designed to help the women best describe how they deliver on leadership characteristics and how they are seen by others as a leader, and indeed engage people who see them as fit to lead.
About WeQual
WeQual's mission is to make businesses more inclusive by identifying exceptional women executives and address the gender imbalance across the world's Executive Committees. Katie Litchfield, founder and CEO of WeQual Awards, devised the new platform which calls for women senior executives to build their case as to why they are deserving to be appointed to the Executive Committee.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201117005907/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Ant International Secures Payment Institution Licence from the Central Bank of Brazil4.9.2026 16:41:00 CEST | Press release
Expanding the company’s capability to support local partners with FinAI solutions Ant International, the leading global digital payment, digitisation, and FinAI solutions provider, today announced that it has received a Payment Institution (PI) licence from the Central Bank of Brazil. “With the Central Bank's invaluable support, we are ready to step up more reliable and comprehensive global payment and account services to enterprises, platforms and SMEs in the country's dynamic digital economy, in ever deeper collaboration with its highly developed payments ecosystem and financial services industry,” said Rodrigo Reif, General Manager, Ant International Brazil. Ant International provides cross-border payments and account services, embedded credit and treasury services, and other finAI and blockchain solutions to clients across Asia, Europe and the Americas. The company processes over 20 million transactions daily, connecting 2 billion consumer accounts to 150 million global merchants v
Bending Spoons completes the acquisition of Airtable4.9.2026 14:30:00 CEST | Press release
Bending Spoons S.p.A. (NASDAQ: BSP) has completed the previously announced acquisition of Airtable, the platform used by more than 500,000 organizations to reshape how teams organize data and manage critical workflows. “Airtable continues to grow because customers value its best-in-class flexibility,” said Luca Ferrari, Bending Spoons CEO and co-founder. “Teams can bring all their data, context, and AI agents together in one place, shape their workflows around their specific needs, and progressively expand their use of the platform over time. As we take the reins, our focus will be on sustaining that growth by investing heavily in Airtable’s product, customer support, and go-to-market capabilities.” “I’m proud of what the Airtable team has built and excited to see the business enter this next chapter,” said Howie Liu, co-founder of Airtable. “I’m confident Bending Spoons has the resources and long-term perspective to help Airtable continue delivering exceptional value to its customers
EQT to acquire McGill and Partners, a leading specialty (re)insurance broker for USD 2.0 billion, from Warburg Pincus4.9.2026 13:48:00 CEST | Press release
Warburg Pincus and McGill and Partners have reached an agreement with EQT that will see Warburg Pincus sell its majority stake to EQT McGill and Partners founders, management team and colleagues will re-invest alongside EQT, retaining a meaningful ownership stake in the firm going forward as they continue to serve clients globally Maintains commitment to firm’s independent model and culture of ownership, developed organically since its founding in 2019 EQT will partner with Steve McGill and the management team to accelerate organic growth, including via talent recruitment, further development of technology and data capabilities, and expansion of innovative digital solutions EQT and McGill and Partners are pleased to announce that EQT X ("EQT") has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in McGill and Partners from Warburg Pincus for USD 2.0bn. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Steve McGill will continue to lead the firm, while Chairman John Lloyd will remain a
A Race Is Never Won Alone: With La Tavolata, Barilla Brings the Paddock Family Together on the Monza Grid4.9.2026 12:18:00 CEST | Press release
A nearly 100-meter-long dinner table hosted more than 200 guests for an evening celebrating collaboration, trust and the bonds built beyond competition. On Thursday evening ahead of the Formula 1® Italian Grand Prix, Barilla transformed one of the sport’s fastest and most competitive environments into a place where the Paddock Family took center stage. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260902463001/en/ La Tavolata by Barilla on the starting grid of the Monza circuit. More than two hundred people gathered around a single table: drivers, Team Principals, mechanics, engineers, strategists, safety and medical car drivers, personal trainers, tire technicians. The individuals whose collaboration, precision and trust shape every race, every decision and every performance. A nearly 100-meter table set with plates and pasta. With the first-ever Tavolata organized by Barilla and F1, people from across the Formula 1® ecosy
Aqara Showcases The New Smart Lighting Series and Immersive Smart Home Experience at IFA 20264.9.2026 11:30:00 CEST | Press release
Aqara, a global leader in IoT, today announced a new lineup of smart lighting products and a global community platform for smart space creators, at IFA 2026 in Berlin. The announcements reflect Aqara's ongoing vision for AI-driven spatial intelligence — spaces that understand their users and adapt to how people actually live in them. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260904365343/en/ Aqara Showcases The New Smart Lighting Series and Immersive Smart Home Experience at IFA 2026 The new lighting series — spanning indoor and outdoor use — integrates seamlessly with Aqara's existing ecosystem of sensors, switches, and hubs, bringing complete whole-space lighting scenarios and automated controls to life. The new Aqara products showcased include the Floor Lamp T1, LED Downlight T2, LED Strip T2, Outdoor String Lights H1, and Permanent Outdoor Lights H1. In addition, the company will present Aqara Builder, a platform fo
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom