Nominations open on 31 July 2017
Singapore – For the very first time, the UK movement celebrating and nurturing the pipeline of female talent, The Women of the Future Programme, announces the launch of The Women of the Future South East Asia Awards with nominations opening 31 July online at http://awards.womenofthefuture.co.uk/seasia/
Founded over a decade ago in the UK by Pinky Lilani CBE DL, and proudly supported by headline sponsor Aviva, the awards are aimed at recognising the inspirational young female stars of today and tomorrow. They are open to women aged 35 or under and celebrate talent across seven categories including business, culture, media, technology, community and more.
The categories for the inaugural Awards are:
- Professions & Business
- Entrepreneur
- Arts and Culture
- Community & Public Service
- Property, Construction & Infrastructure
- Media & Communications
- Science, Technology and Digital
Pinky Lilani CBE DL, Founder, Women of the Future (WOF) Programme said: “When we created the Women of the Future Awards in 2006, it was always my dream to bring it to Asia. Over the years, we have built a remarkable, informal community of influential women determined not only to build professional and personal relationships with one another, but to be advocates for an exciting new generation of business leadership talent. It is now time to celebrate the diverse spirit of young women and their achievements in shaping the future of Asia.”
Chris Wei, Executive Chairman, Asia & FPI and Global Chairman, Aviva Digital, said, "Aviva strongly believes in diversity. An inclusive workforce which reflects society and our customers isn't just right, it's good common sense. Women bring a unique perspective to the business, and we are proud to support the inaugural Women of the Future South East Asia Awards. Through this event, we seek to
recognise, celebrate and nurture talented women in the region who have made a difference in their respective fields, and will continue to inspire and play key roles in spearheading further change."
Commenting on the recent Annual Talent Shortage Survey by the ManPower Group indicating talent shortages are more widespread in Asia than in any other region, Lilani says, “Women as a demographic group represent an extremely large untapped resource. We believe that the WOF programme can encourage, motivate and provide role models to inspire and strengthen the female talent pipeline, and as a result ease the challenges caused by the talent shortage in Asia.”
Furthermore, the proportion of women at board level is strikingly low when compared to US and Europe. In Asia, women account for 6% of board positions compared to 17% and 15% in US and Europe respectively.
Lilani adds, “Our panel of judges is looking for significant and ground-breaking achievements to date, where the individual has made a distinctive and innovative contribution in their field; and very importantly has the ability and willingness to act as a role model to others.”
Shortlisted candidates of each category will gain access to many different opportunities, including the WOF network- a global and collaborative network of women who support and inspire each other to further professional and personal success.
The winners will be announced at the Women of the Future South East Asia Awards gala dinner on 20 March, 2018, to be held at the Hilton Hotel Singapore.
HOW TO NOMINATE
If you believe that you, or somebody you know deserves one of the Awards, then simply complete the online nomination form here: http://awards.womenofthefuture.co.uk/seasia/
Candidates must be aged 35 or under on 20 March 2018, and must be citizens and residents of one of the following countries:
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- Indonesia
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Myanmar
- Philippines
- Singapore
- Thailand
- Vietnam
Submissions close 20 October 2017.
The Women of the Future South East Asia is also sponsored by RICS, Shell and partnered by CNBC, Grip and Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
About Women of the Future
Women of the Future (“WOF”) Programme is a portfolio of events and projects that support and celebrate the successes of women through the WOF Awards, WOF Summit, WOF Ambassadors and WOF Network. WOF was founded in 2006 by Pinky Lilani CBE DL and Cherie Blair CBE is Awards patron.
WOF is a movement focused on kindness and collaboration in the workplace, galvanising a community of influential women to work together as a new generation of talent across business, media, culture and public service.
Previous winners of the WOF Awards include the Team GB Paralympic athlete Sophie Christiansen; writer & television presenter Dawn O’Porter; Women’s Editor at The Daily Telegraph, Emma Barnett; notonthehighstreet.com co-founder Holly Tucker; and Liv Garfield, Chief Executive of Severn Trent.
Women of the Future Global Ambassador – HRH The Countess of Wessex
About Aviva Asia
Aviva operates in seven markets in Asia (Singapore, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Taiwan and India).Aviva is a top tier insurer in Singapore and one of the biggest providers of employee benefits and healthcare insurance.
As at 30 September 2016, Aviva-COFCO ranked number 9 among 27 foreign life insurers in China in terms of APE, operating in thirteen provinces with over 80 branches.
In Indonesia, Astra Aviva Life is an equal joint venture between Aviva and Astra International, one of Indonesia’s largest diversified conglomerates, to sell and distribute insurance products.
Aviva has had a presence in Hong Kong for more than 150 years.
In Vietnam, Aviva acquired 50% shareholding of VietinAviva from VietinBank to make it a wholly owned subsidiary of Aviva in 2017.
Aviva operates First-Aviva in partnership with First Financial Holdings in Taiwan, with a wide distribution network of 188 branches across the country.
Aviva partners in India with the Dabur Group, one of India’s oldest and most respected business houses and one of the largest producers of traditional healthcare products, and has a distribution network of over 100 branches and 12,000+ financial planning advisors.
Following Aviva’s acquisition of Friends Life Group in April 2015, Friends Provident International is now part of the Aviva Group. Friends Provident International provides life assurance and investment products in Singapore, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.
For an introduction to what we do and how we do it, please visit http://www.aviva.com/about-us/aviva/ For broadcast-standard video, please visit http://www.aviva.com/media/b-roll-library/ Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/avivaplc/ Follow us on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/aviva-plc
