The future is female: an open award for female entrepreneurs changing the world

Women often lead companies that not only generate economic value, but also tackle social, environmental and cultural emergencies with creativity. The aim of the Cartier Women's Initiative, created almost 20 years ago, is precisely to find the most interesting ones and support them. This year, the maison decided to award nine winners of previous editions of the prize at a special occasion: Expo 2025 in Osaka where, in collaboration with the Japanese government, it inaugurated the Women's Pavilion, designed by architect Yuko Nagayama. Open to the public until 13 October, the interior space offers an immersive experience curated by British artist Es Devlin, with installations exploring themes such as female empowerment, gender equality and social sustainability. The common thread is the belief that when women thrive, humanity thrives.

The Cartier Women's Initiative, af today, has supported 330 women scholars from 66 countries, provided more than $12 million in funding, and created a community of more than 500 change makers. In the Sakai Performing Arts Center in Osaka this year, nine women, former scholarship holders, who have actually made a significant impact on society through their enterprise were further honoured; they were chosen in three different categories: Preserving the Planet, Improving Lives and Creating Opportunities in line with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.
Their names? For the first category, Tracy O'Rourke of Vivid Edge (Ireland) who offers companies energy advice to reduce their impact; Kresse Wesling, co-founder of Elvis & Kresse (UK) who transforms waste into luxury goods, integrating circularity and philanthropy into her business model; Kristin Kagetsu of Saathi (India) who produces biodegradable sanitary napkins from banana fibre.

In the Improving Lives category, awards were presented to Caitlin Dolkart, founder of Flare (Kenya) who created a centralised emergency response platform that reduces ambulance response times, saving thousands of lives across East Africa; Namita Banka of Banka Bioloo (India) who brings sanitation services to underprivileged communities through organic toilets and wastewater treatment solutions that improve public health; Yvette Ishimwe, head of IRIBA Water Group (Rwanda) who provides affordable access to clean water through solar-powered water ATMs, improving hygiene and reducing disease in low-income regions.

Among those who distinguished themselves in creating opportunities, the award went to Rama Kayyali of Little Thinking Minds (Jordan) who addresses regional learning poverty with digital literacy platforms in Arabic that improve reading outcomes for children across the Middle East, Mariam Torosyan, founder of Safe YOU (Armenia) who created an artificial intelligence-based mobile ecosystem to support victims of gender-based violence by offering emergency services and community resources in five countries; Jackie Stenson of Essmart (India) who produces solar lanterns and cookers to rural communities through a strong distribution network that also supports local retailers.

Now is the time to think about the future: the Cartier Women's Initiative 2026 has just been launched: there is time until 24 June to participate.