Sustainable Finance Leader of the Year

Description

This award is open to organisations or individuals wishing to enter someone who has shown outstanding leadership in promoting responsible and ethical practices within their chosen field / organisation in the financial services sector. This can include individuals in any position in the organisation, from CEO to administrative assistant – but they do need to be able to demonstrate that they’ve achieved really significant, game-changing impact. So while this does not remotely rule out a winner emerging from a more junior role, they would need to have achieved an impact disproportionate to their direct responsibilities.

Key achievements will include one or more major initiatives in purpose-driven sustainable finance, in which the individual leader has played a significant role. The judges will assess the extent and range of achievements and must see evidence of how the individual has led within their team or organisation; the degree of creativity and innovation that has been shown in taking forward the initiative(s); the extent to which the entrant has shown leadership within their sector and has influenced colleagues and third parties; and the personal commitment demonstrated by the entrant to be a voice for sustainable finance practices.

Judges’ consideration will be given to financial sector leaders who have created meaningful change in the way that social and environmental challenges are addressed through financial products and / or financial service providers.

This award celebrates an individual who has been a leader in sustainable finance during the period 2022 to 2024, although candidates for this award will often have a far longer history of leadership.

We request a total word count of 1500 words +/-10% (excl. supporting docs). Any confidential data will be treated as such and only shared with the judging panel, all of whom will have signed NDAs.

Criteria

Judges will be looking for evidence of progress on the following points (weighting percentages in brackets):

  • The individual leader’s innovation and creativity in their approach to purpose driven leadership (30%)

  • Evidence of success of their initiatives with verifiable data to support assertions as to reach and impact (30%)

  • A demonstration of an ongoing commitment to work with colleagues to bring them along on the sustainability / social impact journey; ensuring projects and initiatives are collaborative, long-term efforts (30%)

  • Evidence of the individual’s long-term passion for sustainability, ethical behaviours and community engagement, and whether they dedicate personal time and resources in support of social responsibility (10%)

PLEASE NOTE: The criteria above are different to the questions in the application form. You will need to follow the application questions; cross-referencing these with the criteria to ensure you’ve captured them within your application. The criteria are followed by the judges in order to compare all entries in each category like-for-like. Please ensure you register / log in to AwardStage (opens 3 March), select the category and export a PDF copy of the questions. Some category application questions differ. The application questions will be available at least four weeks before entries open, so if you wish to get them ahead of time please email us.