The Cartier Women's Initiative Awards Pre-Selection Days at INSEAD

On March 8^th in Singapore and March 15^th in Fontainebleau, INSEAD MBAs came out in large numbers to review business plans submitted to the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards.

The Cartier Women's Initiative Awards are an international business plan competition created in 2006 by Cartier, the Women's Forum, McKinsey & Company and INSEAD to identify, support and encourage projects by women entrepreneurs.

Since their inception in 2006, the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards have accompanied over 120 promising female business-owners and recognized 44 Laureates.  The mission of the Awards is threefold: 1) To identify and support initial-phase women entrepreneurs through funding and coaching; 2) To foster the spirit of enterprise by celebrating role models in entrepreneurship; and 3) To create an international network of women entrepreneurs and encourage peer networking.

INSEAD has partnered with Cartier from the founding of the competition by helping to publicize the event, conducting the pre-selection days, including INSEAD professors as trainers and Jury members, and connecting students and alumni with finalists and Laureates as mentors and coaches.

On the pre-selection days, which take place on both the Singapore and Fontainebleau INSEAD campuses, MBAs volunteer review the initial business plan submissions to the competition.  The students, guided by Cartier and INSEAD, break out into specific regions (Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, North America and Middle East & North Africa) and read through the business plans, evaluating them on a tested and specific rubric. This feedback becomes part of the selection process used by the Jury for the competition.  The pre-selection days serve, not only to help screen through the applications, but also to inspire INSEAD MBAs with the quality and diversity of women entrepreneurs who submit applications.

Some feedback from MBAs who participated in the on-campus pre-selection days:

“It is very inspiring to see a company such as Cartier empower women through a social initiative such as this. I enjoyed being part of the Pre-Selection process because it gave me a chance to learn more about the role of women in different societies, interact with people with the same interest and make a difference in someone's life.” – Julia Bautista

“It was a unique experience that allowed us to assess different start-up projects from around the world, and the best part of this experience was the realization that nothing is impossible for a woman who is passionate about what she is doing.” – Martina Guryeva

“I really enjoyed the whole session. It was impressive to see the level of initiative and entrepreneurship that women from different regions in the world come up with. It was particularly, interesting to note that most of these women did not have a business education or a business background but were driven by a sense of economic independence and an urge to make an impact around them in their own way. This was very inspiring for me.” – Rashmi Agarwal

"Reviewing applications from all over Latin-America just showed me the passion and entrepreneurial spirit which exist there. Dozens of talented young women in business are ready to face the challenge of running a profitable organization while also having an impact on their close society. Of course, in quite a few cases they still need the support and coaching to be successful in longer term and larger scale, but the spirit and passion are there which are still the most important elements in my opinion." – Bence Buday

The annual competition involves two rounds:

Round 1 (in June): Now that feedback has been received from the pre-selection days, the Jury selects 18 finalists, the top three projects of each region (Latin America, North America, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East & North Africa, Asia-Pacific). They receive coaching from experienced business mentors to move to the next round.

Round 2 (in October): The finalists are invited to France for the final round of competition which includes submitting a detailed business plan and presenting their projects in front of the Jury. They are also invited to the Annual Global Meeting of the Women's Forum, in Deauville, where the Awards ceremony takes place.

Based on the quality of the plan and the persuasiveness of the verbal presentation, one Laureate for each of the six regions is selected and receives a unique and comprehensive support package: US $ 20 000 of funding, one year of coaching, networking opportunities and media exposure.