WCD’s Visionary Awards recognize the transformational strengths that make companies leaders among their peers – a commitment to strong corporate governance, diversity, inclusion, and a healthy financial track record. 

Each year, we present the award to companies or individuals who exhibit an exceptional corporate commitment to diversity, inclusion, and women’s leadership in the C-suite and boardroom.

We will be recognizing achievements in the following categories:


  • Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company
  • Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company
  • Visionary Award for ESG Leadership
  • Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

Visionary Awards Guidelines

The awards are given annually to companies that consistently demonstrate a commitment to workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion, best-in-class governance, and consistently strong long-term financial performance. Each awardee must also have at least 30% on their board and 20% or more female executives on their executive leadership team. To be considered for a Visionary Award, companies are required to have at least the equivalent of $200 million (in USD) annual revenues and be in business operation for more than five years. The company further demonstrates a commitment to mentoring and promoting women to leadership positions and on its board of directors. Local operations alone are not sufficient to comply with the criteria guidelines. The Committee will evaluate a nominee’s parent company (if relevant) along with its operations and subsidiaries in various markets to determine whether it meets Visionary Awards requirements. For Awardees, the expectation is that the Company CEO will be available to accept the Award. If she/he is unavailable then a female board member may accept the award on behalf of the CEO.

Methodology

The Visionary Awards Selection Committee (the Committee) carefully reviews and discusses a variety of quantitative and qualitative information and benchmarks provided by third-party sources including company websites, SEC and/or other regulatory documents, public third-party financial databases, research analyst reports, and press clippings. In addition, nominees are assigned to individual committee members who conduct deeper due diligence research and objectively present their findings. Information obtained by committee members includes access to their network and other knowledgeable sources used to evaluate candidates and select awardees. The Committee has created the following criteria for each category.

Criteria

WCD Visionary Awards for Leadership and Governance recognizes a public company and a private company
· The company is a recognized industry leader and/or innovator that has consistently generated strong long-term financial performance while successfully balancing the needs of all its stakeholders: shareholders, employees, customers and the communities in which its business operates.
· The Company’s corporate culture has addressed gender inequality, particularly by facilitating women’s empowerment in the C-suite , board room and throughout its management ranks as well as in its charitable giving, community involvement, and outside recognition of employee benefits.
· The company proactively manages its impact on the environment with measurable success.

WCD Visionary Award for ESG Leadership
 The company is proactive, future-focused and demonstrates sustainable performance and impressive results with a track record of leadership in overall ESG performance based on published ESG statistics and/or is recognized for its innovative and measurable impactful programs.

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership
 · The nominee must be a current female CEO or female board chair who demonstrates leadership through innovation, board and management team diversity and the successful pursuit of long-term strategic growth.
· The CEO has developed programs to mentor and promote female employees in leadership team positions with measurable success.
· The CEO and her company play a meaningful role in contributing to their community.

WCD Visionary Awards Frequently Asked Questions

 

Q: What are the WCD Visionary Awards?
A:WCD’s Visionary Awards recognize companies and leaders that consistently demonstrate a commitment to workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion, best-in-class governance, and strong long-term financial performance.

Q: What are the general criteria for WCD Visionary Awards?
A: To be considered for a WCD Visionary Award, companies are required to have at least the equivalent of $200 million (USD) annual revenue and be in business operation for more than five years. Each nominee must have at least 30% female representation on their board and 20% or more female executives on their leadership team. The company should also demonstrate a commitment to mentoring and promoting women to leadership positions and its board of directors.

Q: What are the WCD Visionary Awards categories?
A: Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company, Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company, Visionary Award for ESG Leadership (formerly Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value), and Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership


Q: Why should I submit a WCD Visionary Awards nomination?
A: As a WCD member, you have the exclusive opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of companies and individuals with whom you have worked.

Q: Can I nominate myself or my own company for a WCD Visionary Award?
A:  Yes, self-nominated and third-party entries for companies and individuals are accepted. 

Q: How many WCD Visionary Awards nominations can I submit?
A:  There is no limit on the number of unique nominations that can be submitted as long as the nominee(s) meet the criteria for the category. 

 

For additional Q&A please click here 

Awardees Through the Years

 

2011

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

PROCTER & GAMBLE – Presented to Bob McDonald, Chairman, President & CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

THE COCA-COLA COMPANY – Presented to Maria Elena Lagomasino, Director

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

IRENE ROSENFELD, Chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods, Inc.

2012

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

PUBLICIS GROUPE – Presented to Maurice Levy, Chairman & CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

DESJARDINS GROUP – Presented to Monique F. Leroux, Chair of the Board, President & CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

INTEL – Presented to Ambassador Charlene Barshefsky, Director

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

ELLEN KULLMAN, Chair of the Board and CEO of DuPont

 

2013

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

UNILEVER – Presented to Paul Polman, CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

SC JOHNSON – Presented to Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Director

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

IBM – Presented to Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, Director

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

MARJORIE MORRIS SCARDINO, former CEO and Director of Pearson PLC

 

2014

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

RBC – Presented to Gord Nixon, Chairman & CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

SODEXO GROUP – Presented to Michel Landel, CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

ABBOTT LABS – Presented to Miles D. White, CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

BETH MOONEY, Chairman and CEO of KeyCorp

 

2015

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

SEMPRA – Presented to Lynn Schenk, Director

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

L’OREAL – Presented to Frederic Roze, CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

BIOGEN – Presented to George Scangos, CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

MARILYN CARLSON NELSON, Co-Chair and former CEO of Carlson Companies

 

2016

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

ULTA BEAUTY – Presented to Mary Dillon, CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

PUBLIX SUPERMARKETS – Presented to Jane Finley, Ph.D., Director

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

SANTANDER GROUP – Presented to Shriti Vadera, Chairman, Santander UK plc

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

MAGGIE WILDEROTTER, Executive Chairman, Frontier Communications Corporation

Special Award:WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership of a Woman Corporate Director

IZUMI KOBAYASHI -- Director, Member of the Board, ANA Holdings, Inc.

2017

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

ALASKA AIR GROUP – Presented to Brad Tilden, CEO & Chairman

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

THE DUCHOSSOIS GROUP – Presented to Craig Duchossois, CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

ECOLAB – Presented to Doug Baker, CEO and Chairman

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

ISABELLE MARCOUX, Chairman, Transcontinental Inc.

 

2018

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAY – Presented to Ede Holiday, Director, and Laura Stein, Director

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

DOT FOODS, INC. – Presented to John Tracy, Executive Chairman

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

NEXTERA ENERGY – Presented to Jim Robo, CEO & Chairman

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

SUSAN STAUTBERG, Chair emeritus, and former Chairman and CEO WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation (WCD); co-author of Women on Board

Special Award:WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership in Advancing Women Public and Private Company Directors

MAGGIE HANSON-MUSE -- Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs, ASEAN; WCD Advisory Board Member and former Honorary Chapter Chair in Peru, Columbia, and India

 

2019

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

SINGAPORE TELECOMMUNICATIONS LIMITED (Singtel) – Presented to Chua Sock Koong, Group CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

HALLMARK CARDS, INC. – Presented to David Hall, President

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

BMO FINANCIAL GROUP (BMO) – Presented to Darryl White, CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

EILEEN MCDONNELL, Chairman and CEO, Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company

 

2020

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

SHISEIDO – Presented to Masahiko Uotani, President & CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

ELKAY – Ric Phillips, President & CEO

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

STARBUCKS – Presented to Clara Shih, Director

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

ANA PAULA PESSOA, Director, Suzano Pulp and Paper, Credit Suisse, News Corporation, Vinci Group, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Stanford Global Advisory Council, Salesforce Brasil, Instituto Atlantico de Gobierno, Stanford Alumni Brasil Association (SUBA), and Fundação Roberto Marinho

 

2021

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

Merck & Co., Inc. - Kenneth C. Frazier, CEO of Merck & Co., Inc.

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI Co-op) - Accepted by Eric Artz, CEO of REI Co-op

WCD Visionary Award for Innovation in Shared Value

illycaffè S.p.A - Accepted by Massimiliano Pogliani, CEO of illycaffè S.p.A

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

Accepted by Susan Salka, CEO of AMN Healthcare

The Susan S. Stautberg WCD Member Leadership Award

Accepted by Susan Remmer Ryzewic


 

2022

WCD Visionary Award for Strategic Leadership

Accepted by Debra Cafaro, Chairman and CEO of Ventas

WCD Visionary Award for ESG

Natura & Co - Accepted by Board Member Carla Schmitzberger, Natura & Co

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Public Company

CDW Corporation - Accepted by Christine Leahy, CEO of CDW

WCD Visionary Award for Leadership and Governance of a Private Company

Dompé farmaceutici - Accepted by Nathalie Dompé, CEO of Dompé farmaceutici