Women inspire, create, construct, lead, and contribute to change. We encourage them to share their inspiring tales!
The 2nd edition of the Express AWE awards, organised by the Express Group and FICCI FLO, will recognise excellence and outstanding achievements by India’s leading women entrepreneurs. Whose innovative approach and ground-breaking ideas have resulted in positive changes in India’s business and social ecosystems. Moving beyond ‘empowerment,’ the platform seeks to recognise and enable women leaders and achievers who have created new possibilities for themselves.
Objective
Celebrate the achievements of today’s women entrepreneurs
Establish a network of like-minded individuals
Inspire the next generation of innovators and change makers
Stages of the Program
Awards Categories
We invite entries of individuals from both established organisations and rising businesses in the following eight industry verticals
E-commerce
who have identified niche growth opportunities in the e-commerce space or who could innovate and use the power of this medium to ensure consumer gains while also being transformative for the business
Technology
who have leveraged technology to create impactful solutions for a sector or found an innovative way to solve a difficult problem. The result could benefit users in any industry
Social Impact
who have used their entrepreneurial skills to create business models that positively impact our lives or who have made a material difference in addressing a social problem. However, it must be a sustainable solution or service that can be scaled and has attracted takers - either through impact numbers or the ability to sell the model and raise funds
Education & Skill Development
Individuals who have been able to evolve and stay in sync with changing needs in the education space and have developed transformative, sustainable, and scalable models and solutions in this space
Health & Wellness
Individuals who identified opportunities in the health and wellness space and developed innovative, sustainable, and scalable solutions, leveraging technology and skills appropriately to materially impact clinical outcomes
Media & Entertainment
Individuals who own businesses in the Indian creative industry and have carved out a niche, with a clear USP, that has produced results and is able to attract customers/investors
Fashion & Lifestyle
Individuals who have been able to pivot their businesses or develop innovative, scalable, and sustainable solutions or services with a clear USP that takes into account changing consumer aspirations
Hospitality
Individuals who have been able to clearly demonstrate a USP that has helped it prevail in times that had upended the sector and is not just an also-ran. Participants must clearly demonstrable outcomes that is finding takers -customers/ investors
Jury Awards
What’s more, the jury will confer three additional awards in recognition of outstanding and inspiring work by women entrepreneurs in India who have gone above and beyond to achieve the extraordinary!
Lifetime Achievement
Legacy Spin-off
Newsmaker of the Year
Promising FICCI-FLO Entrepreneur
Why to Participate
Boost your organisation’s reputation, setting you "apart from the crowd”
Winning this prestigious award also gives your people a morale boost and confidence about the future of their organization
If you are a young company, winning awards can signal to the world that you are building a company that is making a difference
For more established players, business achievements and awards not only showcase your heritage, but also prove that you are still dynamic and innovative
Eligibility Criteria
Sole proprietorship, partnership, public company, private company, HUF, or trust organisation registered in India
Entrepreneurs who have made a significant contribution to their industry sector in the previous year as of September 30, 2022
Participants applying in the organisation segment:- The company must have been in existence for at least 9 years as of September 30, 2022
Participants applying in the emerging business segment:- The company must have been in existence for at least two years and no more than nine years as of September 30, 2022
Methodology & Evaluation Parameters
To select finalists from the list of entries, an equitable judging committee comprised of relevant industry experts, experienced businessmen, and academic leaders has been appointed. This industry-specific Jury panel will evaluate entries using a uniform 20% weightage for each of the evaluation parameters listed below
INNOVATION
BUSINESS SUCCESS
VISION & GROWTH
MARKETING KNOWLEDGE & STRATEGY
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Following the scoring of the entries, nominees will be shortlisted, and finalists will be chosen for each category
Financial Express has always essayed a leadership role in raising pertinent issues across industry verticals. The publication takes great pride in playing the role of a facilitator and encouraging debate and discussion amongst its various stakeholder communities in order to drive meaningful change. Towards this, we introduce another thought-provoking forum from Financial Express.
FICCI Ladies Organization (FLO), the women’s wing of the apex chamber ‘Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’ (FICCI) was founded in the year 1983 and is the oldest women’s business chamber in Southeast Asia. FICCI-FLO represents over 8000 women entrepreneurs and professionals across 18 chapters nationally and impacts the lives of thousands every year through its work. FLO works aggressively towards promoting economic empowerment & equal opportunities for women across sectors and verticals of the economy, for a truly inclusive economic growth trajectory.
