IPWS is happy to announce this year’s independent WLA Jury to judge nominations in the Women Leadership Awards (WLA). The jury will oversee the selection of top candidates across the seven award categories in the WLA 2020. The WLA nominations are open March 23 – April 19, and the WLA Winners will be announced at on Friday June 5th, 2020 in Shanghai.
Every year, jury members are selected from a broad cross-section of industries and positions to ensure a well-rounded representation of professionals in the judging panel. Their role in business and society is also a reflection of IPWS values: to Connect, Grow, Inspire and Lead.
The six independent Jury members, using the established WLA Criteria Guidelines for each award category, will review all nominations received. The Jury will participate throughout the entire selection process and following the review of all nominations, the Jury will select two finalists for each WLA category, except for Lifetime Achievement. These finalists will be notified On or before May 4th.
On May 23 or May 30 (the final date and location to be confirmed when Finalists are announced) the finalists in each category (except for Lifetime Achievement) will be required to represent themselves in front of the Jury for a 30-minute in-person session. The Jury will score and select the recipient of each award category based on the nominees’ presentations, and their recognized accomplishments submitted beforehand through the nomination process.
The winners will be announced and recognized at the Women Leadership Awards ceremony on June 5th, 2020.
IPWS is delighted to announce the following WLA 2020 independent jury panel:
- Chloé Reuter, Founding Partner of Reuter Communications
- Jack Brady, CEO and Executive Director of AustCham Shanghai
- Jessica Gleeson, CEO of BrighterBeauty
- Marian Danko, Founder/CEO at weHustle and TECOM Conf
- Michelle Garnaut , Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the M Restaurant Group
- Shirley Lei, Managing Director, Zenith Advisory
- Jury Secretary: Rita Malvone, Business Performance Consultant
The seven categories for the 2020 WLA:
- Business Leader of the Year
- Innovator of the Year
- Young Business Leader of the Year
- Social Contributor of the Year
- Entrepreneur of the Year
- HeforShe Man of the Year
- Lifetime Achievement
Chloé Reuter
Founding Partner of Reuter Communications
Chloé founded Reuter Communications in Shanghai in 2010. Since then, the agency has developed into a luxury intelligence, digital, communications and marketing agency connecting luxury brands and businesses with Asia’s affluent consumer. The Agency was awarded Best Independent Agency in Greater China by Campaign Magazine in 2018.
The agency has over 100 full time staff across Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore and London, and represents some of the world’s most celebrated luxury and premium brands including Harrods, Lanvin, Margiela, Swire Hotels, The Estee Lauder Companies, Value Retail and Vivienne Westwood. Chloé is also the co-founder of The Luxury Conversation, a global community created to connect and showcase the people who are shaping the luxury industry in China and Asia.
Chloé graduated from Durham University (UK) and People’s University (Beijing). She speaks, reads and writes Chinese. Originally from Luxembourg and the UK, she has lived in Asia since 1993. Before starting Reuter Communications Chloé worked in Tokyo for Bloomberg and Reuters.
Jack Brady
CEO and Executive Director of AustCham Shanghai
Jack leads a team of staff across four departments and drives the Chamber’s mission to strengthen Australia-China business, government and community relationships. Jack is an Executive Director of the AustCham Shanghai Board of Directors and is responsible for the overall management of the Chamber including financial and human resource management.
Jack was previously the General Manager of the Chamber. Prior to joining AustCham Shanghai, Jack worked in Sydney with government relations and corporate communications firm GRACosway as the National Research and Policy Manager. Jack holds a Bachelor of Arts (First Class Honours) from The University of Sydney.
Jessica Gleeson
CEO of BrighterBeauty
Jessica Gleeson is an experienced international executive with a passion for building and scaling brands. BrighterBeauty imagines what Next Generation Retail could be at the intersection of beauty, science and technology. A 20-year veteran of Starbucks, Jessica held a variety of leadership roles as the company grew from 50 stores in the US to 55 countries globally. This included Starbucks’ original market entry into China and initial expansion in the Asia-Pacific region.
Driven by her fascination with the rapidly changing retail landscape, Jessica relocated to China and helped grow three iconic brands – Starbucks, The Walt Disney Company and Claire’s Accessories. She served as International COO for Zambero and Pacific Springboard. Founder of Experiential Retail, a global consulting firm that helps purpose-driven brands scale with integrity. Jessica serves in advisory roles for Planet O, Urban Tuk-Tuk, Cindy Reid Global Golf, GloCoach and Flave.
Jessica is passionate about the responsibility of women in leadership roles to engage and amplify other female business leaders.
Marian Danko
Founder/CEO at weHustle and TECOM Conf
Marian Danko is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for innovation and technology. As a Founder & CEO of weHustle, which is a platform for innovators, Marian is working on building and aggregating resources much needed for the ecosystem players to grow. Three years of partnering up and working with 20+ tech and entrepreneur communities in China led Marian to launch TECOM Conf, an annual event celebrating the power of the community. TECOM Conf Shanghai 2019 brought Marian to Forbes China. With 8 years of China experience Marian has deep understanding in a startup ecosystem, which makes him a frequent speaker and panelist at many entrepreneurship and innovation related events.
Michelle Garnaut
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the M Restaurant Group
Ms Garnaut began her career as one of China’s most celebrated restaurateurs in 1989, when she opened M at the Fringe in Hong Kong after studying for a Bachelor of Arts at Monash University. Her first restaurant swiftly grew into a city institution and remained at the helm of Hong Kong’s dining scene for 20 years. In 1999, she opened M on the Bund, which was the first independent restaurant on the historic Shanghai waterfront and a few years later, the beloved Glamour Bar raised the bar of Shanghai’s cocktail and clubbing scene. In 2009 she opened Capital M on Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Today, Ms Garnaut’s M Restaurant Group includes M on the Bund and M Glam, a chic Shanghai dining lounge. Over the years, in tandem with the restaurants growth, an empire of cultural events has grown up. Ms Garnaut founded the Shanghai and Capital Literary Festivals, the Shanghai Chamber Music Festival and Competition and the M Literary Residency. She has been curation talks on an enormous variety of topics in Hong Kong and China for over 25 years. She is also the co-founder of the Village People Project, which aims to improve the lives and health of villagers in rural China and works to promote Educating Girls of Rural China.
In 2013 she founded the non-for-profit Mentor Walks in Beijing, and rolled it out in Shanghai in 2015. Mentor Walks is an informal yet highly effective initiative matching up-and-coming professional women with experienced mentors. Mentor Walks now operated in Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and numerous regional Australian cities and continues to spread around Asia and beyond.
Shirley Lei
Managing Director, Zenith Advisory
Shirley Lei is the founding partner of Zenith Advisory, a boutique consulting firm founded in 2002 specialized in helping clients to achieve their organizational strategies through their people.
With 20+ years of professional experience, Shirley became a well connected and out-of-the-box consultant knowing how to leverage individual and corporate advantage to achieve maximum performance. Shirley is very talented in encouraging clients with different education and culture background to bring out their best in the real and complicated business world.
Shirley’s selected clients include Citi Bank, Cisco, Dow Chemical, Huntsman, Protiviti, DTZ, IFF, SAICO, Akzo Noble, BP-PetroPec, SinoChem, AstraZeneca, Amgen, Roche and many leading business schools. Since 2013, Shirley became the first professional woman from China to deliver “Doing business in China from culture and people perspectives” at a leading European business school in France annually.
Shirley is a frequently invited editorial contributor to leading magazines on business manners, cross cultural awareness, education and travel topics. In 2010, Shirley published her first non-fiction book “Outside the box – a road less traveled” based on her global awareness and unbiased perspectives towards the international community and market.
Rita Malvone, Jury Secretary
Business Performance Consultant
Rita’s unique ability to see both the big picture and the path to get there has led to success and recognition across a range of industries and organizations. She is a strategic advisor, trainer, and coach working globally, both in person and virtually. Rita is a passionate teacher and speaker on strategic planning, leadership skills, and time management. She facilitates and trains on organization development, cross-cultural communication, leadership skill development, team building, and more. She advises on employee growth, small business development strategies, and efficiency. She coaches individuals (ICF ACC track) in many disciplines, including career changes, leadership, upskilling, cross-culture challenges, and executive challenges.
Born in New York to immigrant parents, Rita always knew her life would be led on multiple shores. After several years in international supply chain management for FMCG and automotive companies, she moved to Shanghai in 2012 as a Strategy Manager for Ford Motor Company, with a focus on developing the fledgling Asia Pacific Purchasing Organization. Now, she is an advisor to multiple companies across a variety of industries doing business across borders. She is an active mentor, coach, and champion of women in business. She has a single focus: helping companies and individuals operate better, smarter, and faster.
