Globally, women hold approximately just one in five senior management roles, and fewer than one in ten businesses have a female CEO; of Financial Times top 500 companies, women represent 1.8% of CEOs and hold 10% of board seats. Almost half of the Woman of the Year – leadership – financial organisation (CEO, board member) category consists of Jersey CEOs. Farah Ballands (Estera), Louise Bracken-Smith (Fairway Group) and Naomi Rive (Highvern) are all shortlisted.
Jersey-based women also featured heavily in the Professional Services category, with Nancy Chien (Bedell Cristin), Felicia de Laat (Mourant), Elena Moran (Ward Yates) and Kellyann Ozouf (Collas Crill)taking four out of the ten slots.
Mourant and Estera were both listed as finalists in the Best Employer – Career Progression category, while Oak Group and Bedell Cristin are in the Company of the Year – Creating Change for women category. Jersey Finance and Jersey Financial Services Commission made it into the Company of the Year – Female Leadership (Government, Regulatory, Non-profit organisation) category.
Fairway Group were finalists in the Company of the Year – Female Leadership (Boutique) listing. Louise Bracken-Smith said: ‘We’re very happy to receive this recognition of our push for equality and diversity in the workplace which is something I’ve always encouraged in our company and within the Jersey financial industry.’
Elsewhere, Mourant senior associates Gabby Kellogg and Carly McIver were shortlisted for the Future Leaders (Senior Associate, SVP). Mourant also saw associate Roisin Cullinane shortlisted for Future leaders (Associate, VP), along with Sonia Shah from Bedell Cristin. Mourant also have counsel Catherine Moore and associate Ellie Oury shortlisted in the Rising Star category, along with Emma Furzer from Fairway Group.
Mourant global managing partner Jonathan Rigby said: ‘We believe that diversity of talent is integral to providing our clients with the best services and solutions through the contribution of diverse perspectives. The recognition of these six lawyers is a strong reflection of this, and I congratulate them all in their very well-deserved nominations.’
Collas Crill partner Kellyann Ozouf was shortlisted for two other awards: Inspirational Woman of the Year and Woman of the Year – Business Growth (Mid-size). She said: ‘It’s an honour to have been recognised and shortlisted within three categories of the awards and I hope this inspires the younger generation of female lawyers in particular.’
Also shortlisted for Inspirational Woman of the Year is Nicola Gott of Oak Group, who is also in the Leadership – Financial Organisation (Managing Director) along with Heather Tibbo of Crestbridge and Michelle Le Herissier of JTC.
Estera employees feature elsewhere in the listings with group CEO Farah Ballands also shortlisted for the Business Growth (Large, Institutional) category, group business development director Lisa Mclauchlan shortlisted for Business Services (Large), along with Allie McMahon of Quilter Cheviot. Estera’s Michelle Tring is shortlisted in the Future Leaders Partner, Director category along with Sophie Reguengo of Ogier.
Farah Ballands commented: ‘At Estera, we are proud of the fact that we have built a diverse and inclusive team. Today, 65% of our workforce is female and the number of female directors stands at 42%, which is well in excess of industry norms.’
Fairway Group CEO Louise Bracken-Smith is also nominated in the Business Growth (mid-size) category. The group now has an executive committee comprised of approximately 38% women, double the average board members of the Fortune 1000 list of the biggest companies in the US.
Other Jersey nominees include: Victoria Yates (Ward Yates) for Business Growth (boutique), Kate Kirk (Ogier); Nicola Nicholson (Crestbridge) and Rebecca Stannard (Bedell Cristin) for Business Services (SME) and Lisa Springate (Jersey Finance) and Jill Britton (Jersey Financial Services Commission) for Government, Regulatory, Non-profit organisation.
