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
Samsung Research Reveals Over Half of Europeans Admit to Looking at a Stranger's Phone Screen in Public – With Nearly a Quarter Doing so out of Sheer Curiosity1.4.2026 08:00:00 CEST | Press release
From dating apps to financial details, respondents report seeing a wide range of highly personal information on others' screens 56% of people admit to having looked at strangers’ phone screens accidentally, whereas 24% have done so out of curiosity. 57% identify public transport as the most likely place to notice someone else's screen. While 48%* feel confident they can keep their phone activity private when using it in crowded places, another 52%** acknowledge it is easy to see someone’s screen who is next to you in a public place without trying to look. 33% say they have seen personal content on a stranger’s phone in public. Some smartphone users who have looked at a stranger’s phone screen in public ignore and continue what they were doing (28%) or look away immediately (27%), but others (7%) admit to continuing to look discreetly. The new Samsung Galaxy S26 Privacy Display1 limits side-angle viewing of your screen to protect your privacy in any setting. As millions of Europeans2 ge
RevolKa Reimagines Antibody Engineering with "RevoAb®"1.4.2026 06:30:00 CEST | Press release
A Same-day Sequence Optimization Service to Elevate Antibody Expression Levels by RevolKa’s advanced AI Protein Engineering Engine RevolKa Ltd. (RevolKa), a venture-backed biotech company providing an advanced AI protein engineering technology platform, called aiProtein®, is pleased to announce the official global launch of RevoAb®, an innovative and quick online service for antibody sequence optimization to solve challenges in physicochemical properties, especially antibodyyields. RevoAb®:The Next-Gen AI Antibody Design Since December 2023, RevolKa has provided an antibody optimization services utilizing aiProtein®. The newly launched RevoAb® is a quick intuitive online antibody sequence optimization service that integrates RevolKa’s core technology—the "Refined Naturalness Framework Engineering". RevoAb® is designed to generate antibody framework sequences optimized for improved physicochemical properties, especially protein expression levels, without trade-off of affinity. This allo
Global Beauty Market Grows 10% as AI and E-commerce Reshape Consumer Buying1.4.2026 03:00:00 CEST | Press release
Online sales outpace in-store by 6x as digital-first and AI-influenced commerce accelerates globally NielsenIQ (NYSE:NIQ), a global leader in consumer intelligence, today released its State of Beauty 2026 report, showing the global beauty market grew 10% year-on-year, with E-commerce expanding six times faster than in-store sales. The findings highlight a rapid shift to digital-first, AI-influenced commerce across key global markets. As consumer expectations evolve toward convenience, personalization, and seamless digital experiences, beauty brands are under increasing pressure to adapt. From AI-powered product discovery to social commerce and livestream shopping, the path to purchase is becoming more dynamic—requiring brands to move faster and engage consumers across an increasingly complex ecosystem. Key findings from the State of Beauty 2026 report: Global beauty sales grew 10% year-over-year, driven by strong digital acceleration E-commerce is growing 6x faster than in-store sales,
bet365 Partners with TestMu AI to Accelerate Global Release Velocity with Agentic AI Quality Engineering31.3.2026 19:01:00 CEST | Press release
Streamlines Hillside Technology testing across browsers and mobile devices while supporting rapid expansion into regulated markets. TestMu AI (Formerly LambdaTest), the world's first full-stack Agentic AI Quality Engineering platform, today announced that Hillside Technology Limited, the technology powerhouse behind global online gambling leader bet365, has adopted its platform to unify software testing and support hundreds of weekly production releases. The global online gaming industry is currently experiencing a massive shift, with the market projected to exceed $150 billion by 2030. As mobile gaming becomes the primary touchpoint for users, the technical complexity of delivering a seamless, low-latency experience has grown exponentially. For industry giants like bet365, the need to validate software across an infinite matrix of hardware, screen resolutions, and OS versions is a mission-critical requirement. This partnership ensures that, as gaming becomes more mobile-centric, bet36
IFF Secures First Heart Health Claim for Soy Protein in Australia and New Zealand31.3.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
Regulatory milestone opens heart health growth opportunities for food and beverage manufacturers IFF (NYSE: IFF), a global leader in flavors, fragrances, food ingredients and health & biosciences announced today that a new heart health claim for isolated soy protein has been accepted by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). The approval enables food and beverage manufacturers in Australia and New Zealand to link soy protein consumption with healthy blood cholesterol levels. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260330523416/en/ First heart health claim approved for soy protein in Australia and New Zealand. “For decades, IFF has invested in the science behind soy protein and its role in supporting cardiovascular health,” said Tony Andrew, vice president of protein solutions for IFF Food Ingredients. “This approved claim validates years of rigorous research and collaboration. With our deep expertise in ing
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