Shortlisted Nominees 2026

30 July 2026

We are delighted to announce the Shortlisted Nominees for The Women’s Awards 2026.

This year has been our most remarkable yet, with an incredible 245 nominations submitted across our Midlands and National categories. Behind every nomination is a story of hard work, resilience, and impact, and choosing our shortlist from such an outstanding field was no easy task.

To every nominee named below: you should be incredibly proud. Being shortlisted is a recognition of the difference you are making, and a moment worth celebrating.

Congratulations to all our shortlisted nominees. We can’t wait to celebrate you. You will be receiving an email with your ‘Shortlisted’ badge in the next few days so look out for that. Do keep in mind that we are a small team of part time workers. We appreciate your patience.

Congratulations again to our shortlisted nominees. Now it’s over to our Judging Panel.

We are doing something a little different for our celebration this year, so look out for our posts here and our social media.

Category	Regional Area	Name of Shortlisted Nominee
Outstanding Woman in Art, Media & Media	National	Amber Foreman Qaisra Shahraz MBE FRSA Rachel Smith
Outstanding Woman with Community Impact – (Charity & Voluntary Services)	Midlands	Andli Litt Carrie Austin Hasina Reshamwalla Laura Mackie Laura Potts Lianne Kirkman
	National	Carol Akiwumi MBE Dr Charlotte Proudman Elham Fardad Hayley Smith Maggie Oliver Nicola Harteveld Pam Bhupal
Outstanding Female Disability Awareness	Midlands	Charis Hawkley Lisa Ventura MBE FCIIS
	National	Adeshola Akanji Helen Brewster
Outstanding Woman in Education	Midlands	Adele Tilley-Jones Jane Rigby Laura Till Leya Luhar Laura Gilbert
	National	Cristina-Steliana Mihailovici Emily Hollis MBE Lauren Coppel Wunmi Adebowale
Outstanding Female Entrepreneur	Midlands	Lindzi Hargrave Nicola Suzanne Colman Olivia Mendoza Kavita Kaur Bachada
	National	Lucie Macleod Margaret Ward
Outstanding Female Leader of the Global Majority	Midlands	Asha Day B.E.M. Mezmin Malida Asma Nafees Shireenah Imgram
	National	Amarachukwu Eze Dilly Sallah Dr. Monique Lynch-Jonah Elham Fardad
Outstanding Female in Hospitality	National	Catherine Edsell Christina Konstantopoulou Rachel Thomson
Outstanding Woman in Professional Services	Midlands	Parvien Akhtar Amy Wellerman Heather Wolfe Kavita Bachada Lisa Footes
	National	Dr. Charlotte Proudman Dr. Sasha Hall Rebecca Delaney
Outstanding Woman in Public Services	Midlands	Andli Litt Dr. Rani Gundhu QPM Gemma Cardwell Jodi Pitts
	National	Dilys Sillah Geetanjali Verma Sarah Gibb
Outstanding Senior Female Executive	National	Bana Gora Debbie Airey Elham Fardad Rachael Swann
Outstanding Woman in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)	Midlands	Leya Luhar Lisa Venura MBE FCIIS
	National	Anupama Hatti Dr. Nayantara Srinivasan Mini Biswas Zoe Whitman