CaixaBank launches a new edition of its "Women in Business Awards", which celebrate the achievements of Spain’s leading businesswomen

Recognising excellence and diversity in business

• Participants have between 20 April and 25 May to submit entries for the sixth edition of the Awards.
• CaixaBank will choose the national winner of the award – who will, in turn, be one of the Spanish representatives at the international IWEC Awards, held between 13 and 15 November in Madrid.

CaixaBank has launched the sixth edition of the "CaixaBank Women in Business Awards", which each year recognise the talent and professional excellence of 14 leading female entrepreneurs in Spain who have demonstrated strategic vision, transformative innovation and leadership skills.

The "CaixaBank Women in Business Awards", which contribute greatly to the recognition of business excellence and promotion of gender equality in the Spanish society, will select 14 leading women as winners of a first stage, one for each of the bank's Regional Management units. Subsequently, in a second stage, the national winner will be among those to represent Spain at the 2022 IWEC Awards, which are organised by the International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC), the worldwide network of female business leaders.

Submissions received until 25 May

Female entrepreneurs who are interested in participating can request information on the entry criteria at [email protected], as well as submit their candidacies between 20 April and 25 May.

The candidates must fulfil the conditions established by IWEC, including, being shareholders of their company and being actively involved in the daily operations of their business. Furthermore, the company must be at least three years old, have minimum annual income equivalent to USD 1.5 million and show a commitment to honesty, equity, objectivity and accountability.

Additional judging criteria will include assessing the entries in relation to the success of their business activity and career, such as their companies' degree of innovation, job creation, financial soundness and ESG sustainability, as well as their leadership skills or participation in initiatives that promote female entrepreneurship and diversity, among others.  

After receiving the candidacies, in a first stage the jury of the awards, comprising a group of CaixaBank male and female managers, will choose 14 leading female entrepreneurs, one from each of the bank's 14 Regional Management units.

Subsequently, in the national stage, the national winner will be chosen out of the regional winners, becoming one of the Spanish representatives at the IWEC Awards, following on the steps of Inés Juste, Chair of Grupo Juste; Rocío Hervella, founder and CEO of Prosol; Arancha Manzanares, Vice-President of Ayesa; Lina Mascaró, Chair of Grupo Mascaró; and Pilar Martínez-Cosentino, Vice-President of Grupo Cosentino, all of them national winners of the last editions of the "CaixaBank Women in Business Awards".

Meanwhile, BPI, CaixaBank's subsidiary in Portugal, will be holding the "Premios Mulher Empresária BPI" awards, which this year is in its fifth edition. The winners, all women leaders in the Portuguese business world, will be the Portuguese representatives at the IWEC Awards.

The "CaixaBank Woman Entrepreneur Community"

All the winners of the "CaixaBank Women in Business Awards” are invited to participate in the "CaixaBank Woman Entrepreneur Community", a virtual private LinkedIn community that serves as a platform to share knowledge, ideas and experiences, and a meeting point to establish professional connections.

The Community, with already 63 members, also offers access to exclusive experiences, such as forums, debates, conferences and domestic and international events, whose aim is to contribute to the development and leadership of women in the business world.

The IWEC Awards

The International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge (IWEC), with headquarters in New York, is a worldwide network of female business leaders in their sector, who nurture company ownership and cooperate on a global level through chambers of commerce and business organisations with the aim of promoting networking and developing female leadership.

Every year, within the framework of its Annual Conference, IWEC hands out awards in recognition and support of businesswomen all over the world. Among other aspects, the IWEC awards aim to increase the awareness of businesswomen, so that they can play a key role in in the development of the global economy.

After two years of virtual conferences, this year, the IWEC awards are scheduled to be held in Madrid between 13 to 15 November, a meeting that will enjoy the participation of prominent figures in the business world. 

Since its founding in 2007, IWEC has recognised 460 businesswomen from 47 countries. The companies led by these entrepreneurs have created 295,416 jobs and total revenues of over 41.1 billion dollars. 

Wengage, CaixaBank's commitment to equality

Diversity, meritocracy, equal opportunities and talent recognition are some of the pillars of CaixaBank's corporate culture. Under these premises, it works with a commitment to be a pacesetter for its employees, promoting inclusion and participation and bolstering projects that promote equality, both within the company and across the whole of society. In fact, at CaixaBank, women occupy 41.3% of managerial positions and 40% of the Board of Directors, one of the highest percentages in the sector. 

CaixaBank has its own diversity programme, Wengage, developed by people from all areas of the company, based on meritocracy and promoting equal opportunities, which works to promote and achieve gender, functional and generational diversity. Wengage includes internal measures to foster flexibility and work-life balance, to raise awareness regarding diversity and strengthen the role of women, with training programmes and female mentoring plans, through which female managers will guide other professionals in developing their careers.  

Wengage also develops external initiatives for customers and the society, based on championing the diversity and equal opportunities across three areas: leadership and entrepreneurship, innovation and education, and sport.

In addition, CaixaBank has an Equality Plan to promote the principles of equal opportunity and the diversity of work teams, enhance the presence of women in managerial positions, and reinforce measures to balance personal and professional life. The plan features the scope of gender in managerial development programmes and in recruitment and training processes, and the fostering of teleworking and flexibility.  

CaixaBank is associated with the international programme Target Gender Equality and the Women’s Empowerment Principles of the United Nations; the Voluntary Agreement with the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, "More women"; and the Diversity Charter, promoting equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory measures.

Furthermore, since 2018, CaixaBank has adhered to the EJE&CON Code of Good Practices for Talent Management and the Improvement of Company Competitiveness, committing itself to fostering the presence of women in managerial positions. It is also part of the STEAM Alliance for Female Talent "Girls on the Science Stand", an initiative led by the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training to promote STEAM careers in girls and young women.

Thanks to this commitment, CaixaBank is among the world's top five companies in Bloomberg's 2022 Gender Equality Index.