SAN FRANCISCO, CA and LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Nov 21, 2016) - The Women of the Future [WOF] Awards, supported by headline sponsor Aviva, announced Brynne Herbert, CEO and founder of MOVE Guides, as Entrepreneur of the Year at an event in London last week, which included the presence of WOF founder Pinky Lilani CBE DL, WOF patron Cherie Blair CBE, QC, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti CBE, and the Rt Hon John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons.
Through its market-leading Talent Mobility Cloud platform, MOVE Guides helps HR teams move their employees around the world -- for any reason, any policy and any location. Herbert founded the company in 2012, after experiencing first-hand the challenges of global relocation as an investment banker for Lehman Brothers and investor at Standard Chartered. A registered Global Mobility Specialist with the Worldwide Employee Relocation Council, Herbert is renowned for her global mobility and technology expertise, contributing regularly to a number of publications. Just last week, Herbert appeared on CNBC's "Squawk Box" discussing the WOF Awards and female leadership, alongside Sir John Peace, chairman of Standard Chartered Bank and Burberry Group.
In a year of global disruption, highlighting successful young women as some of future leaders has never been more important. While the UK has seen its second female Prime Minister come to power this year, women still hold only around 7 percent of the world's leading political offices, with commercial leadership fairing no better, as almost four in ten businesses in G7 countries have no women among their senior management teams.1
Herbert commented, "It is a tremendous honour to receive the 2016 Women of the Future award for Entrepreneur of the Year. The Women of the Future Programme plays an essential role in inspiring the next generation of female talent by showcasing the remarkable successes of women in leadership. I believe that it is the responsibility of women leaders, like myself, to pave the way by building transformational global companies. Which is why I have always said the more that women set out to build global companies, the more others will follow their lead."
Now in its 11th year, the WOF Awards continue to play a hugely important role in recognising, inspiring and offering practical support to the inspirational young female stars of today and tomorrow. The Awards are open to women aged 35 or under, and celebrate talent across categories including business, culture, media, technology and sport. In total 12 women were selected as category winners by a judging panel chaired by Sir John Peace, Chairman of Burberry Group & Standard Chartered.
Commenting on the Awards, Pinky Lilani CBE DL, founder and chair, Women of the Future said, "We are delighted to celebrate the remarkable personal and professional achievements of the winners of this year's Women of the Future Awards. The WOF network grows stronger every year as we recognise the young women who are together shaping Britain's future through their shared passion, determination, and kindness. Congratulations to all the winners!"
Aviva Group CEO, Mark Wilson, shared, "I want a world with no barriers. No glass ceiling. Nothing that stops women fulfilling their potential. Aviva is delighted to support Women of the Future because it's an important step towards turning that vision into reality. But we still have a long way to go."
For more information about the WOF Awards, please contact Hawthorn Advisors:
Rose Schreiber, Hawthorn Advisors
Email: r.schreiber@hawthornadvisors.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 3745 4971
Charlotte Juckes, Hawthorn Advisors
Email: c.juckes@hawthornadvisors.com
Tel: +44 (0)20 3745 4973
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. It was announced earlier this month that Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex, a long-time supporter of Women of the Future, has become an official Ambassador for the WOF Programme.
Previous winners of the WOF Awards include the Team GB Paralympic athlete Sophie Christiansen; writer and television presenter Dawn O'Porter; Sunday Times columnist and BBC radio presenter Emma Barnett; notonthehighstreet.com co-founder Holly Tucker; and Liv Garfield, Chief Executive of Severn Trent.
Sponsors for the 2016 Women of the Future Awards are Aviva (headline sponsors), HH Sheikh Mansoor Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Festival, Asda, SD Worx, Coca-Cola European Partners, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, KPMG, London Stock Exchange Group, Mishcon de Reya, RICS, Shell, Thomson Reuters, Unilever, and Visa Europe. Media partners are CNBC and Financial Times, and the educational partner is Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
About Aviva
Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management to 33 million customers, across 16 markets worldwide.
In the UK we are the leading insurer serving one in every four households and have strong businesses in selected markets in Europe, Asia and Canada. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE100 index.
Aviva's asset management business, Aviva Investors, provides asset management services to both Aviva and external clients, and currently manages over £319 billion in assets.
Aviva helps people save for the future and manage the risks of everyday life; we paid out £30.7 billion in benefits and claims in 2015.
By serving our customers well, we are building a business which is strong and sustainable, which our people are proud to work for, and which makes a positive contribution to society.
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About MOVE Guides
MOVE Guides helps HR teams move their employees around the world for any reason, any policy and any location. MOVE Guides partners with leading multinational companies to deliver a full global mobility program across 200 countries with their Talent Mobility Cloud platform, concierge-level support for employees and a global supply chain of partners.
MOVE Guides has offices in the Americas, EMEA and APAC, and is backed by New Enterprise Associates and Notion Capital. For more information, go to: http://www.moveguides.com and follow MOVE Guides on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
1 Statistics according to Women in International Politics, and research by Grant Thornton in its report "Women in business: the value of diversity", published 29 Sep 2015.