WeQual honours eight ‘exceptional’ women execs

WeQual has honoured eight businesswomen holding prominent executive roles in leading companies in the Americas.

The annual WeQual Awards come at an important time for women in business. The global Covid-19 pandemic is “in danger of pushing back opportunities for women to be appointed to the most senior positions”, according to Katie Litchfield, Founder and CEO of WeQual. “The fact that we are able to celebrate the achievements of these women in major companies at this time sets a shining example to others.”

The awards recognise world-class women executives, one level below the group C-suite; and promotes diversity and gender equality within the group executive committees of the largest companies in the Americas region. “WeQual identifies already successful senior women who are qualified to be appointed to the group C-suite,” explained Litchfield. “Our mission is to tackle the slow progress in appointing diverse women to executive roles and highlight successes where they occur. The glass-ceiling concept has been an issue for decades, and the drop-off is steepest just below the group C-suite, so it is important to champion gender equality at the top.”

2021 WEQUAL AWARD WINNERS

This year’s eight winners were selected from a shortlist of 24 finalists, as reported. They include:

• Leadership Excellence category: Heather Cykoski, Group Vice President, ABB
• Technological Impact category: Jen Lloyd, Vice President, Precision Technology and Platforms BU, Analog Devices
• Business Security category: Noopur Davis, EVP, Chief Product and Information Security Officer, Comcast
• Commercial Innovation category: Christina Montgomery, VP, Chief Privacy Officer, IBM
• Operational Performance category: Terecina Kwong, Chief Operating Officer, HSBC Europe, HSBC
• Business Transformation category: Juggy Sihota, Vice President, Consumer Health, TELUS (Canada)
• Finance category: Monique French, Chief Credit Officer , CIBC FirstCaribbean (Jamaica) 
• Business Turnaround category: Paula Costa, Marketing Vice-President, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil, Diageo

RIGOROUS AWARDS PROCESS

WeQual’s assessed the 24 finalists against specific criteria; such as leadership, cognitive ability, drive and resilience, integrity, emotional intelligence, personal development, approach to quality and knowledge of their business. All the candidates were assessed blind; with no name or company revealed in their application. To choose the winners, eight executive interviewers held 30-minute interviews with the three finalists in each category before each choosing a category winner. The judges included:

• Sir Ian Cheshire, former Chairman, Barclays UK
• Steve Cahillane, President and Chairman, Kellogg Company
• Douglas Peterson, CEO, S&P Global
• Dame Inga Beale, Chair Designate, Mediclinic
• Ann Cairns, Executive Vice-Chair, Mastercard
• Ron Kalifa OBE, Chairman, Network International
• Tamara Box, Managing Partner EMEA, Reed Smith LLP
• Zoran Bogdanovic, CEO, Coca-Cola HBC

All 24 award finalists now have access to a range of WeQual support services and networks designed to help them step up to the group executive level, confirmed Litchfield. A quarter of WeQual award winners in the USA and UK have since been promoted to the global executive committees of Fortune 500 and FTSE companies. Approximately 120 senior women are now involved with WeQual globally.