CaixaBank, a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Valencia, is seeking out 14 top businesswomen across the country in a new edition of the “CaixaBank Women in Business Awards”, which each year recognise the talent and professional excellence of leading female entrepreneurs with standout careers, strategic vision, and transformative innovation and leadership skills.
The “CaixaBank Women in Business Awards”, which are now in their seventh year, have been established in recent years for their recognition of business excellence and contribution to promoting gender equality in Spanish society. In 2022, the bank received over 100 candidates, three times the average received in previous years. Also, this year CaixaBank opened the call to female business owners of microenterprises and SMEs that meet the award criteria, which include being a majority shareholder in the company, being actively involved in the day-to-day running of the business, and showing a commitment to responsibility. In addition, the company must have been in business for at least three years, have a minimum turnover equivalent to USD 1.5 million, and be actively engaged in importing or exporting goods or services, or be prepared to start global business.
From among the entries received in the initial regional stage, the judging panel – made up of a group of male and female executives from CaixaBank – will select 14 regional winners, one for each of the bank’s Business Commercial Divisions. All these winners will be invited to join the CaixaBank Women in Business Awards Community on LinkedIn, created by the bank to promote relationships and networking among all the winners of previous years, and giving them access to exclusive activities.
In the subsequent national stage, the national winner will be chosen from the 14 regional winners. She will join previous national winners of the “CaixaBank Women in Business Awards”, including Inés Juste, president of the Juste Group; Rocío Hervella, founder and CEO of Prosol; Arancha Manzanares, Vice-President of Ayesa; Lina Mascaró, president of the Mascaró Group; Pilar Martínez-Cosentino, vice-president of the Cosentino Group; and Maite Casademunt, president and creative director of Lola Casademunt.
The national winner of the ”CaixaBank Women in Business Awards“ will also be one of the Spanish businesswomen awarded at the IWEC Awards of the International Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC), the worldwide network of leading female business owners who cooperate on a global level. These awards, first created in 2007, are presented at the annual IWEC meeting, which will take place this year between 5 and 7 November 2023 in Turin (Italy).
Female entrepreneurs who are interested in participating can access the entry criteria of this year’s call and submit their candidacies at www.caixabank.es/PremioMujerEmpresaria by May 28.
Last year, as part of the awards ceremony for the sixth edition of the “CaixaBank Women in Business Awards”, the “Women’s Leadership” forum was held in Madrid, the first in-person gathering of the Community. The forum brought together over 40 female business owners and was attended by the CaixaBank CEO Gonzalo Gortázar and many of the bank’s executives.