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Home / Venture  / Searching for the next Kate Sheppard: Get ready for the first GirlBoss Awards

Searching for the next Kate Sheppard: Get ready for the first GirlBoss Awards

Let’s be honest: there are a lot of awards events out there. But what there aren’t enough of: awards events for kickass young Kiwi women doing kickass things. And there are even fewer awards events for kickass young Kiwi women being put together by GirlBoss’ Alexia Hilbertidou and Trade Me. Until now, that is.

Hilbertidou and Trade Me have joined forces to celebrate trailblazing young women in Aotearoa with the inaugural edition of the GirlBoss Awards. And guess what: nominations are open now.

For the awards, a number of well-known organisations have stepped up to help. Trade Me, Method, Delta Insurance, Air New Zealand and Foodstuffs are each sponsoring an award category. The categories include: innovation, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics), community, emerging leader, enterprise and the overall trailblazer.

Not only are there a variety of categories, but there’s also some serious money for winners – as in $1,000 for category winners, and $2,000 for the overall trailblazer who “challenges the status quo and inspires others to dream more, be more, learn more and do more.”

GirlBoss founder Hilbertidou says the GirlBoss Awards will celebrate incredible young Kiwi women defying stereotypes and creating change in their communities. “Just two percent of New Zealand’s NZX 50 CEOs are women, and we want to change that,” she explains. “The GirlBoss Awards are about recognising the change make-hers, the up-and-comers, the innovators and the bold young women who are shaping the future of New Zealand.”

Hilbertidou adds that the purpose of the GirlBoss Awards is “to inspire and motivate young Kiwis to become leaders in their industry and community.”

Trade Me spokesperson Moana Roberts is pretty excited about the awards and their potential to inspire amazing young women, too. “We’re stoked to be working with Alexia to bring the GirlBoss Awards to life for the very first time this year – it’s cool to lend our support and help make one of her dreams a reality,” Roberts explains. “But most importantly we’re excited to be shining the light on some brilliant young Kiwis who are our future Kate Sheppards and Jacinda Arderns and Nanogirls. We’re looking forward to celebrating these inspiring young women when the GirlBoss Awards are announced on 19 September, coinciding with the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand.”

Another person thrilled to be involved is Method managing director Sam Ramlu, who will be one of the GirlBoss Awards judges. “Their quest to help women realise and value their role in tech and leadership roles is so important – there’s still a lot of work to be done and we love that Alexia is leading the way.”

Young women between the ages of 11 and 18 are eligible to be nominated, and nominations can be made by visiting girlbossawards.co.nz. But hurry – entries close on August 22.

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