Why Apply?

The Cartier Women’s Initiative Award offers funding, coaching, networking opportunities and exposure. It is a unique opportunity for early-phase women entrepreneurs to take their companies to the next level.

The Award is designed to maximize the learning experience for candidates, finalists and laureates.

Testimonies of Participants

Discover the competition in the words of our previous Laureates: their experience of the week in France, the impact of the Award on their businesses, the advice they would like to give future candidates.

The Award

The Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards offers one-to-one personalized business coaching for the eighteen finalists(*) representing the top three projects of each continent.

These finalists are selected in the first phase of the contest in June. They are then invited to France in October for the Finale week which includes entrepreneurship workshops, a presentation in front of the international Jury, and an invitation to the Global Meeting of the Women’s Forum. It is a unique week where the Finalists have the opportunity to share their challenges, fears and successes with their fellow candidates.

Birame Sock, Laureate 2010 for North America.

Ann Kihengu, Laureate 2010 for Africa.

The six Laureates(*) are announced during the Awards Ceremony held at the Global Meeting of the Women’s Forum at the end of the week. Each of them receives an additional year of coaching and US$ 20 000 in funding. The full year of coaching focuses primarily on the business development.

• The benefits for the Finalists: 4 months of coaching, networking opportunities and media exposure, Finale week in France.
• The benefits for the Laureates: additional year of coaching,
  funding of US$ 20 000.

The Laureates cite the networking opportunities, the international exposure and the one-to-one coaching as the most important benefits of the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards.

* Until 2010, only 15 finalists and five laureates. See news.