Westpac and Financial Review launch the 2013 100 Women of Influence awards

5 July 2013

Recognising female leaders across Australia

Nominations are now open for The Australian Financial Review and Westpac’s 100 Women of Influence awards. In its second year, the awards are dedicated to recognising and celebrating female leaders across Australia.

Westpac Group Chief Executive Officer, Gail Kelly and Financial Review Group Chief Executive Officer and Publisher, Brett Clegg were joined by female nominees from last year’s program to officially launch the 2013 awards at an event in Sydney this morning. The launch marked the call for nationwide nominations to unearth Australia’s inspiring women across a range of industries who work tirelessly to help shape a vibrant and inclusive future for all Australians.

At the launch of the awards, Mrs Kelly said, "Westpac is proud to continue its support of the 100 Women of Influence awards. It's an important way to acknowledge the significant contribution that women are making to achieve change in their local communities, businesses and society more generally.

“Westpac has a long and proud history of making a positive difference for women as part of our aspiration to be one of the world's great companies for diversity and flexibility. These awards are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the success and achievements of women across Australia and we look forward to starting the search again this year.”

Financial Review Group CEO and Publisher, Brett Clegg said, "Being involved at the inception of this initiative has been a great source of pride personally and for the Financial Review. This is an incredibly impactful and powerful awards program and there's no better partner from our perspective than Gail and the Westpac team.

"Westpac and AFR want to acknowledge and take pride in powerful female leaders across all aspects of our society."

The 100 Women of Influence awards are open for the general public to nominate outstanding and influential women across corporate, community, arts, philanthropy, public and not-for-profit sectors, as an opportunity to celebrate the skills of women in this country who achieve outstanding results in their fields.

Nominations are open across ten categories including: Board / Management, Public Policy, Young Leader, Social Enterprise and Not-for-profit, Philanthropy, Global Influence, Innovation, Local / Regional Community, Diversity and Business Entrepreneur.

Entries will be assessed by a panel of esteemed judges, which will be announced in the coming weeks.

The overall 2012 Woman of Influence winner, Social Enterprise winner and CEO of Foundation for Young Australians Jan Owen, said “Winning the awards really put my business in the spotlight, and the past year has been one of significant growth and learning.

“Women tend to generally be very humble and not see the importance of the work they are doing, and that is part of what makes these awards so powerful. I encourage you to nominate the women you see as role models so they can see the positive impact their work is having locally, nationally and internationally.”

Nominations to the 2013 100 Women of Influence awards are open this Monday 8th July and close on Sunday, 18th August. Entries can be submitted online at www.afr.com/100women.

The program culminates in an awards presentation event where winners will be announced from the 100 finalists, in Sydney on Thursday, 17 October 2013.

For further information please visit: www.afr.com/100women

Notes to Editors

Entry and Judging Criteria

Candidates will be judged on their demonstrated vision, leadership, innovation and action in and beyond their field; their impact and how it was achieved.

The judging panel will give consideration to:

Personal, academic, professional and community achievements.
Demonstrated performance in their field.
Demonstration of collaboration within and beyond their field, and a wider circle of influence than their direct role.
How their influence has contributed to women’s social and economic advancement.
Involvement and contribution to Australian communities through collaboration and mentoring.
Extent to which their contribution was achieved in new and creative ways.

Key Dates and how to enter

Entries open - Monday 8 July 2013
Entries close - Sunday 18 August 2013
Finalists announced in The Australian Financial Review on Thursday 17 October 2013
Entry forms can be downloaded at www.afr.com/100women
Completed entries can be uploaded online at www.afr.com./100women
For more information about the 2013 100 Women of Influence Awards, please visit www.afr.com/100women
Winners announced - Thursday 17 October 2013 at a gala event in Sydney.

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