Women Empowerment Awards announced the winners in six categories at its 2nd annual award ceremony: Innovative Young Woman Leader of the Year Award received by Sissi Chao, Founder of REMAKEHUB; Outstanding Woman Leader of the Year Award – Polly Ng, Chairman & CEO of Global Women Connect (GWC); Male Ally of the Year Award – Marco Lee, Vice President of Sales, FedEx Express; Best Company for the Advancement of Women (MNC) – Hewlett Packard Enterprise; Best Company for the Advancement of Women (SME) – WPIC Marketing + Technologies and Best Policies & Benefits to Promote Gender Equity – Merck.
Created by the Women Empowerment Council (WEC), the Women Empowerment Awards recognizes trailblazing individuals and innovative companies that have demonstrated a robust commitment to promoting women in the workforce and have taken actions to effectively advance gender equality while delivering strong business outcomes.
“This year, WEC received over 80 nominations in the six categories. We want to emphasize that this is not a competition, but rather a celebration of the meaningful work of individuals and companies in our community who are making a difference so we celebrate them all!,” said Diane Ho, Partner of the WEC. “The selection process is transparent and rigorous. Our panel of impartial and reputable judges, selected the three finalists in each category from the top nominations which were shortlisted and ‘blinded’ by a qualified consultant. Even the judges did not know the winners until they were announced today!,” noted Ho.
All the individual winners are leading Chinese nationals who have invested in building a business or team that has advanced gender equity in the broader community aligning with China’s national values and objectives. In 2020, to mark the 25th anniversary of the World Conference on Women, President Xi Jinping stated, “women are the pioneers of human civilization and the promoters of social progress. China has reinforced its commitment to action through the release of its latest national agenda, the Outline of Chinese Women’s Development 2021-2030. It outlines 75 main goals and 93 supportive measures, covering eight areas including health, education and the economy. All WEC award winners go above and beyond to mentor and inspire young women to dream big and be fearless in achieving their goals. Therefore, they collectively support China’s mission to achieve gender equality by 2030. Empowered women contribute to the community’s prosperity and improve the prospect of economic advancement.
This year’s Innovative Young Woman Leader of the Year Award winner, Sissi Chao, is a passionate Chinese female young entrepreneur (under 35) who uses innovative circular technology to turn waste into renewable material and low-carbon lifestyle products. In addition to her environmental work, she is committed to leveraging her position to drive change and develop activities to support women. She is an innovator who wants to improve the world around her and will lead this area globally from China.
This year’s Outstanding Woman Leader of the Year Award winner, Polly Ng is Chairman & CEO of Global Women Connect (GWC) is a firm believer in the synergy of diversity, inclusion, and collaboration for sustainable value creation and an influential leader who is paving the way for others. “As a founder of a nonprofit dedicated to promoting female inclusion, this candidate exemplifies the importance of going beyond industry to empower women in all works of life. We believe Polly Ng demonstrated the best overall effort in championing women in the workplace and society.” stated the judge panel for this award category.
This year’s Male Ally of the Year Award winner, Marco Lee, Vice President of Sales, FedEx Express is designing and executing both domestic and international business sales plans for FedEx in China. “He rolled out comprehensive women inclusive and advancement reforms and tools and continues to champion policies to protect women against discrimination and advocates for their rights. He is committed and has a strong track record with women comprising more than 50% of his team. He practically and successfully implements his ideas to advance gender equality in his role as the lead for the Gender Pillar at his company,” noted panel of judges.
The Best SME Company for the Advancement of Women (SME) Award winner is WPIC Marketing + Technologies, a technology and e-commerce consultancy that drives revenue for global brands in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, won this category. The panel of judges pointed out that they have an impressive 67% representation of women in its workforce, and a stellar 87.5% ratio of women in its leadership team. Four out of its 5 C-suite executives are women, demonstrating that the company actively identifies, nurtures, and promotes female talent.
The Best Company for the Advancement of Women (MNC) Award winner is Hewlett Packard Enterprise, the global leading edge-to-cloud company that helps organizations accelerate outcomes by unlocking value from all their data, everywhere. Judges announced “This company not only has an impressive representation of women in the workforce of over 60%, but it has also maintained women in leadership position north of 50% in the past few years which represents a double impact. In addition, this company has demonstrably included diversity in its overall recruitment process.”
The Best Policies & Benefits to Promote Gender Equity Award winner, “Merck, won for being a vibrant science and technology company that is fueled by a belief that science and technology can be a force for good. The company places emphasis on developing a culture of inclusivity and developed a new leadership program that is designed to empower its management team toward the achievement of its DEI goals.” commended the panel of judges.
Headquartered in Beijing, China, the Women Empowerment Council is an engaged network of leaders and decision makers from 15 MNCs that aims to advance gender equality in business in China and beyond.