The 6th Inspiring Women Award honours sterling women in 21 categories

Published at 11:27 am October 9th, 2021

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The Inspiring Women Award is the flagship accolade of WIL, recognizing outstanding women leaders in various frontiers

The highly acclaimed and prestigious Women in Leadership (WIL) has honoured the most inspiring female professionals of the country at the 6th edition of the 'Inspiring Women Award'.

The grand award ceremony took place recently at the Lakeshore Hotel in the capital's Gulshan area, according to a press release.

A total of 24 winners and 18 honourable mentions were awarded this year on the esteemed accolade’s 6th iteration.

The 6th Inspiring Women Award recognized - the leaders of tomorrow, inspiring female professionals, and changemakers of Bangladesh. In doing so, the accolade seeks to inspire women of Bangladesh to take charge and unlock their potential.

Speaking on the occasion, the President of WIL, Nazia Andaleeb Preema said: “Inspiring Women Award helps women in the fight of leadership- both inside and outside the professional world. It is not easy to be a woman, but it is easy to be an inspiring one.”

During the welcoming speech, Shariful Islam, founder and managing director of Bangladesh Brand Forum mentioned: ”As men no matter how much, we try to understand a woman’s journey it is really difficult to comprehend, especially in Bangladesh as one of the most underutilized resources in Bangladesh is indeed women’s participation”.

This year, the esteemed accolade received an overwhelming number of nominations from across the country. A total of 350+ entries were received from 125+ organizations under 21 categories. Three jury panels, consisting of experts and renowned professionals selected the winners and awarded them in two levels – Honorable Mentions and Winners.

While explaining the rigorous jury process of Inspiring Women Awards, one of the prominent jurors from the jury panel, M Zulfiquar Hussain, CEO and lead consultant at Grow n Excel, said: “As jurors, we scrutinized each and every application through the comprehensive review system. It’s disappointing that in the entry levels we still see women are still underrepresented in almost all job sectors although we all have a talent to build a sustainable Bangladesh.”

For the last 5 years, WIL has been encouraging professional women to pursue leadership in their careers.

The Inspiring Women Award was first given in the year 2014 and since then the underlying message of the Inspiring Women’s Award is to officially recognize women’s efforts in the growth of the country; to empower women professionals and create role models in society (at both individual and the organizational levels).

The 6th Inspiring Women Award is an initiative of Women in Leadership (WIL) in partnership with Joya Sanitary Napkin.

The Strategic partners were Bangladesh Creative Forum (BCF) and Colours FM 101.6, Technology partner – Aamra, PR partner – Backpage PR and Web solution partner – Exsentra, Concept by Preema Arte Foundation. The event was organized by Bangladesh Brand Forum.

Category		Name
Leaders of Tomorrow	Winner	Syed Sadia Hossain Student, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)
Leaders of Tomorrow	1st Runner-Up	Sayma Akhter Jafrin Student, Asian University for Women
Leaders of Tomorrow	2nd Runner-Up	Ta-Seen Reaz Niloy Student, American International University - Bangladesh
Leaders of Tomorrow	Honourable Mention	Bidita Zaman Student, Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP)
Leaders of Tomorrow	Honourable Mention	Tasfia Afrin Faria Student, Jahangirnagar University
Leaders of Tomorrow	Honourable Mention	Tabassum Sadia Shahjahan Student, North South University
Leaders of Tomorrow	Honourable Mention	Nuzabah Azim Student, Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka
Leaders of Tomorrow	Honourable Mention	Rafah Nanjeba Torsa Student, University of Chittagong
Leaders of Tomorrow	Honourable Mention	Pritha Das Student, Jahangirnagar University (IBA)
Most Progressive Organization	Winner	IPDC Finance Limited
Aspiring Woman Leader	Winner	Sabira Mehrin Saba Product Manager, Praava Health
Aspiring Woman Leader	Winner	Rokaiya Ahmed Purna Fashion Designer, Marks & Spencer, RAP (Own Label)
Aspiring Woman Leader	Honourable Mention	Kashfia Tabassum Ahmed Manager, Robi Axiata Limited
Aspiring Woman Leader	Honourable Mention	Tanzia Munir Territory Manager, Unilever Bangladesh Limited
Aspiring Woman Leader	Honourable Mention	Naurin Jahan Executive, Brand Marketing, The Daily Star
Progressing Woman Leader	Winner	Asma Akhter Manager, Procurement Operations Unilever Bangladesh Limited
Progressing Woman Leader	Honourable Mention	Sabrina Mridha Sr. Manager Marketing & Communications, Amari Dhaka
Progressing Woman Leader	Honourable Mention	Zinat Tabassum Hassan Product Developer - Team Leader, Team Sourcing Company Ltd.
Inspiring Woman Leader	Winner	Mubina Asaf Head of Legal & External Affairs, British American Tobacco Bangladesh
Inspiring Woman Leader	Honourable Mention	Anamika Bhakta Executive Vice President, Robi Axiata Limited
Inspiring Woman Leader	Honourable Mention	Sayeda Tahya Hossain Director, Human Resource, Perfetti Van Melle Bangladesh Pvt. Ltd.
Inspiring Woman Leader	Honourable Mention	Samrine Bokhari Director, Commercial, Grameenphone Ltd.
Colours FM Power Woman of the Year	Winner	Mirona Khatun Head Coach Champions League - Male, Dhaka City Football Club
Inspiring Female Startup	Winner	Lamea Tanjin Tanha Co-Founder, TransEnd
Inspiring Female Startup	Honourable Mention	Breity Sabrin CEO & Co-Founder, Just Storys Limited
Inspiring Female Startup	Honourable Mention	Farhana Rashid Founder and CEO, Bhumijo Limited
Inspiring Female Startup	Honourable Mention	Sanjida Farhana Founder, Poshapets Limited
Inspiring Women Award on Breaking the Glass Ceiling	Winner	Raka Noshin Nower Director & Filmmaker, Applebox Films ltd.
Inspiring Woman in Media	Winner	Alisha Pradhan Founding CEO, HerNet Television Ltd.
Inspiring Female Initiative	Winner	Zareen Mahmud Hosein Founder and Executive Director, HerStory Foundation
Inspiring Woman Entrepreneur	Winner	Sylvana Q. Sinha Founder, Chairman & CEO, Praava Health
Inspiring Woman Entrepreneur	Honourable Mention	Tanzila Elma Founder, Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, House of Ahmed LTD.
Inspiring Female in Development Sector	Winner	Dr Rudaba Khondker Country Director, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)
Inspiring Female in Science	Winner	Dr Tasrina Rabia Choudhury Principal Scientific Officer, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission
Inspiring Female in Journalism	Winner	Mithila Farzana Current Affairs Editor, Ekattor Media Limited
Inspiring Dynamic Leader	Winner	Shwapna Bhowmick Country Manager, Marks and Spencer
Inspiring Woman in Academia	Winner	Celia Shahnaz Professor, Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), BUET, IEEE
Leadership in Arts	Winner	Kanak Chanpa Chakma Visual Artist
Inspiring Woman in Sports	Winner	Jahanara Alam Bangladeshi Cricketer, Bangladesh National Women's Cricket Team
Inspiring Female in Fashion	Winner	Faiza Ahmed Owner & Creative Head, Manas
Inspiring Female Leader	Winner	Tina Jabeen Managing Director & CEO, Startup Bangladesh Limited, ICT Division, Bangladesh
Inspiring Woman in Tech	Winner	Achia Nila Founder, Managing Director, Women In Digital