Yesterday, we proudly unveiled the shortlist for this year’s FL Leadership Summit and Awards. Heartfelt congratulations to all the exceptional women who have earned their well-deserved spot on this prestigious list.

Mark your calendars! Our live judging day is set for 5th October, 2023, and we’re gearing up for an unforgettable event on the 24th of November, 2023 at The Londoner Hotel, where we’ll unveil the overall winner.

The full shortlist for the FL Leadership Summit and Awards 2023: 

Female Entrepreneur

Yana Lapitskaya, Co-founder & Managing Director, Yaystarter; Julianne Ponan MBE, Owner/CEO, Creative Nature; Jeanette Forbes, CEO, PCL Group; Emma Black, CEO & Co-Founder, Cascade; Toni Anne Dunleavy, Managing Director, Nest; Kimberley Kong, Director, NELA Global Ltd; Jessica Gwaringa, Managing Director, Moonrise 24hr; Sarah Haran, CEO / Founder, Sarah Haran; Razan Alsous, Managing Director, Yorkshire Dama Cheese Ltd; Caroline Carruthers, CEO, Carruthers and Jackson.

Inspiring Mentor Of The Year

Andrea Ubhi, Director, Andrea Ubhi Dentistry; Jenny Garrett OBE, Managing Director, JReflexion Associates Limited t/a Jenny Garrett Global; Katie Geddes, Director, The Dance Studio Leeds; Karen Cairney, CEO, Cairney & Company; Shaa Wasmund, Founder, SW Media; Hannah Roberts, Founder, Breakthrough Talent & Skills Limited.

Public/Third Sector Leader Of The Year

Julie Hammond, GP, NHS/Dr Hammond Aesthetics; Donna Kelly, Service Manager – Highway Operations and Protection, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham; Patrice Baptiste, Portfolio GP, The NHS; Urvashi Parashar, Director of Analysis & Chief Economist, Department for Culture, Media and Sport; Usha Kong, Careers & Social Mobility Manager, Tower Hamlets Council; Victoria Cope, Commercial Director – Defence Digital, Ministry of Defence; Bamidele Farinre, Pathology Quality Manager/Scrum Master, Whittington Health NHS.

Rising Star Of The Year

Akua Opong, Senior Associate, Service Management, LSEG; Shanoife Wilson, Head of Marketing Communications, NFP; Damini Tailor, Principal Data Science Consultant, BAE Systems Digital Intelligence; PollyPrice, Principal Consultant, Axiologik; Samrudhi Inamdar, Project Engineer, ALTEN LTD, UK; Eleanor Beaumont, Service Manager, PEGS; Catherine Wright, Director – Technology Banking, Corporate Finance, HSBC; Habiba Lais, NDE Technical Fellow, Nuclear AMRC (Sheffield University); Olivia Kline, Corporate Communications Specialist, IFS.

Social Impact Of The Year

Jenny Holloway, CEO, Fashion Enter; Samantha Everard, CEO, SAMEE; Anji Miller, Programme Director/Fellowships & Skills Lead, Innovation Hubs for Gene Therapies/Senior Business Manager, LifeArc; Nicolina Andall, Solicitor/NED/Founder, Inspiring Diverse Leaders; Jane Knight, Founder, Successful Mums Career Academy; Jane Kenyon, CEO, Girls Out Loud; Annette Joseph MBE, CEO and Founder, Diverse & Equal; Nadira ussain, Chief Executive Officer, Socitm; Sabrina Dennis, CEO, First Class Foundation.

Start-Up Of The Year

Debbie Porter, Managing Director, Destination Digital Marketing Ltd; Emma Armstrong, Managing Director, Empro Business Group Ltd; Talisa Gill, Director, 10X Marketing; Alison Ettridge, Chief Believer/CEO, Stratigens; Victoria Jane Simpson, Director, vcare24.

Stem Leader Of The Year

Anna Nicholl, Principal Consultant, PA Consulting; Carol Marsh, Head of Digital Systems, Celestia UK; Hannah Thompson, Operations Manager, Corporate Risk Associates; Lindsey Sills, Commercial Director, Barratt Developments plc; Rachael Fox, Head of Programme Delivery, Yorkshire Water; Rebecca Smith, QA Coordinator, Severfield UK; Sue Partridge, Head of Airbus Filton/Head of Wing of Tomorrow Programme, Airbus UK; Deborah O’Neill, Partner/Head of Digital Europe, Oliver Wyman.

Transformational Leader Of The Year

Nicola Millward, Managing Director, Millward Consulting Engineers; Hena Naranbhai, Director Strategic Development, Barclays; Ann Harding, Road Services Director, HAE UK; Emma Wright, Partner, Harbottle & Lewis/Co-founder of Interparliamentary Forum on Emerging Technologies/Non Executive Director of Playfinder; Gillian Lamela, Executive Director/Domain Architecture Lead for Data, AI & ML, JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Samantha Brook, Group HR Director, Severfield Plc, Poonam Kaur, CEO, fds Director Services Limited; Naomi Begum-Inglis, Managing Director/Global Sales Officer, Accenture Microsoft Business Group.

Women On Boards

Tracy Fletcher, Managing Director, Campbell & Fletcher Ltd; Trusha Lakhani, Founder & CEO, Great Business Matters Ltd T/A Trusha Lakhani; Vineta Bajaj, Group CFO, Rohlik Group; Louise Hardy, Non-executive director, Severfield Plc.

Young Entrepreneur Of The Year

Petra Salarić, Researcher & Consultant, pstaboo; Megan Scaddan, Director, The Nottingham Doughnut Co LTD (Doughnotts); Lani Nguyen, Director/Founder, Alstern Solicitors Ltd; Lara Stallbaum, Co-Founder & CPO, Twirl Technologies Ltd; Lakechia Jeanne, Founder, Girls in Science; Daisy Burgun, Digital Marketing Executive, Pooky Lighting Ltd.

Emerging Leader Of The Year

Farzana Naz, Director, Saracens Solicitors; Kasia Wojciechowska, Regional Head of Client counts/Neurodiversity Lead, Peregrine (formerly Capita); Aashi Sahu, Head of UK Automation, Bots For That; Maria Rosa Torres Sejin, Strategic Priorities Programme Manager, Bank of England; Lucy Hodges, DE&I Consultant, NatWest; Daria Preston, Senior Business Change Manager, Bank of England; Cheryl Razzell, Head of UKIR Compute Architecture, Amazon Web Services; Shyamini Werapitiya, Global Strategic Offerings Manager, IFS; Yulia Manyutina, Climate & ESG Associate Director, RBS International; Jemma Devenish, Senior Specialist Social and Corporate Communications, IFS; Lina Scalzo, Compliance Officer, NFP.

Education/Academic Leader Of The Year

Leigh Hoath, Professor of Science Education/Deputy Dean of Education, Leeds Trinity University; Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso, Associate Professor, University of Leeds/Black in Plant Sciences; Yuliana Topazly, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship, University of the Bahamas; Reham Badawy, Machine learning researcher in digital health/STEM Editor/UK ambassador @Womenareboring | CodeFirst: Girls instructor, University of Birmingham; Rebecca Padgett, Senior Teaching Fellow, University of Leeds; Syra Shakir, Associate Professor Learning and Teaching, Leeds Trinity University.

Disruptor Of the Year

Tamma Carel, Co-Founder, ICOR Systems Ltd; Angie Madara, Founder & CEO, Athena FundX; Melissa Snover, Founder/CEO, Rem3dy Health; Claire Paxman, Brand Ambassador & Director of Global Training, Paxman Scalp Cooling; Vassiliki Somaraki, CEO, V&V Health Innovations Ltd; Joanna Haslam, Design Director, Snap Finger Click.

Join the largest celebration of women in business in the UK. Come with your expectations, leave blown away!

A huge thank you to our sponsors BASF, The Open University, GKN Aerospace, PA Consulting and Ello Group, to our charity partners Ella’s and Tech She Can, as well as our partners, WomenEd and Cohorted.

Tickets are now on sale, secure yours and grab a limited-time discount here.