Women’s Empowerment Principles CEO Leadership Award FAQ What is the WEPs CEO Leadership Award? The WEPs CEO Leadership Award, originated in 2012, is given annually by the Women’s Empowerment Principles - Equality Means Business (WEPs), a partnership initiative of UN Women and the UN Global Compact, to recognize CEOs for their exceptional championship of gender equality and support for the Women's Empowerment Principles The Award salutes concrete and innovative actions taken to advance the Principles and particularly Principle 1: Leadership Promotes Gender Equality As a global initiative, the WEPs award showcases companies around the globe for their implementation practices and leadership according to awards’ nomination criteria To learn about the Women’s Empowerment Principles please visit the WEPs website or watch the WEPs video Who is eligible to apply? Nominations are open to companies who meet the following criteria: CEOs (present or past) who have signed or intend to sign the WEPs CEO Statement of Support by 30 October 2015; and Companies that are participants of the United Nations Global Compact or intend to become participants within the next six months See the WEPs website on How to Sign and the UN Global Compact website on How to Participate How is a CEO nominated? What is the deadline? The WEPs CEO Leadership Award Nomination form is available on the WEPs website The form must be completed and returned by 30 October 2015 Nominations and the accompanying documentation must come from within the company of the CEO nominated Please limit the supporting documents to no more than five All companies submitting a nomination for the 2016 WEPs CEO Leadership Award will receive an email confirming that their submission has been received What are the criteria for the WEPs CEO Leadership Award? The review and assessment process uses a set of detailed criteria and seeks to shine a light on outstanding and innovative initiatives, within the company’s context, taken by a CEO to advance and implement the WEPs Principles and achieve gender equality Whether nominations address all Principles or go into depth into one Principle is up to the applicant, but all nominations should provide details on specific actions spearheaded by the CEO that resulted in concrete sustainable initiatives with measurable impact Nominations should include sufficient detailed information accompanied by company documents or reports that support the information provided in the nomination Where and when will the WEPs CEO Leadership Award be given? The WEPs CEO Leadership Award will be presented at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City at a highly publicized ceremony within the Women’s Empowerment Principles Annual Event, in observance of International Women’s Day March 2016 (date to be announced by September 2015) The awards ceremony, which is web-streamed around the world, offers the CEO award recipient a unique platform to highlight the company’s commitment and achievement to the Women’s Empowerment Principles Please Note: Award recipients are expected to participate at the ceremony The WEPs Team will work with company representatives to facilitate arrangements and logistics When are the awardees notified? The awardees will be notified by mid- December 2015 The public announcement will be coordinated and announced at the WEPs Annual Event in observance of International Women’s Day early March 2015 All recipients are expected to be present How many CEOs will be recognized? The WEPs CEO Leadership Award is highly competitive and annually recognizes five CEOs, from various countries and regions, for their efforts in advancing women’s empowerment and gender equality and implementing the WEPs What are the WEPs CEO Leadership Award Categories? As advancing women in the workplace, marketplace and community requires implementing a range of tailored strategies and actions to achieve concrete, sustainable results with measurable impact, the WEPs CEO Leadership Awards are structured to reflect diverse avenues Five distinct award categories reflect that innovation and leadership comes in different forms: Benchmarking for Change - Recognizes a company for embedding accountability to achieve gender equality through meaningful metrics, indicators, and reporting to track and monitor the inclusion of women at all levels of the company's operations Business Case for Action - Recognizes a company for the implementation of a cross-cutting strategic initiative to sustainably establish inclusion and equality, and transform company behavior and practices Community Engagement - Recognizes a company for its alignment of values and business case applied to a long-term investment in community, leveraging community engagement to build community-driven and participatory local programmes Cultural Change for Empowerment - Recognizes a company for its public, unwavering and proactive commitment to gender equality throughout its business operations that is complemented by a record of expansive programming elevating women’s equality in the workplace and throughout their communities Principles - Recognizes a company for taking coordinated action and implementing policies to deliver powerful results aligned with the Principles Is the company information provided in the nomination form confidential? Yes, all information in the nomination form and supplemental documents will remain confidential unless otherwise noted The WEPs will consult with the company before making any information public How are nominations reviewed? The WEPs CEO Leadership Awards Committee is comprised of members of the WEPs Leadership Group, a multi-stakeholder volunteer group that provides strategic guidance to the UN Women/UN Global Compact WEPs partnership and represents business, academia, civil society, women’s organizations and international institutions To avoid any conflict of interest, Leadership Group members may not participate in the process if their CEO is a nominee Additionally, the nominations of all companies are screened against a global database to ensure that companies uphold high standards of legal compliance What language is preferred for the nomination? The WEPs secretariat prefers that nominations be submitted in English to facilitate a timely review and process However if a company is unable to submit in English the WEPs will accept nominations in other languages and appreciates the submission in hand as early as possible Are there other countries using the WEPs Award to strengthen implementation in their own countries? Yes, several countries are finding that to advance the strong business case for gender equality, presenting a regional or national WEPs award helps further deepen WEPs implementation Brazil was the first country to launch country specific WEPs Awards in 2013 Other countries such as India and Turkey have also expressed interest ... to track and monitor the inclusion of women at all levels of the company's operations Business Case for Action - Recognizes a company for the implementation of a cross-cutting strategic initiative... Annual Event, in observance of International Women’s Day March 2016 (date to be announced by September 2015) The awards ceremony, which is web-streamed around the world, offers the CEO award recipient... behavior and practices Community Engagement - Recognizes a company for its alignment of values and business case applied to a long-term investment in community, leveraging community engagement to