Yesterday Friday we all discovered the winners of the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards (see this previous post for details), five women entrepreneurs (see picture), one from each region of the globe (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America). When Bernard Fornas, President and CEO of Cartier International, announced the winners, he said that they took 7 hours discussing to make the decision. Not only me, but I guess a lot of people in the WF wondered: what criteria did they take into account for the evaluation?

Today I spoke to Freja Day, from Cartier International, and she told me that the evaluation is very rigorous. The three main criteria are: creativity (the degree of innovation of the overall business concept and idea); sustainability (financial impact of the business, indicating its long-term success); impact (community impact of the business, in terms of job-creation and impact on the immediate or broader environment).

The jury is composed of outstanding individuals of the business world, the non-profit sector and the academic field. There are five jury panels, one per continent, representing a variety of profiles, countries and cultures. The jury members all voted for the projects of the finalists.

Freja also said that the social impact of the project is very important, especially in emerging countries. The analysis of the business plans, showing the sustainability of the projects in the next three, five or ten years, counted a lot as well.

The Award is a long-term project and is going to be repeated. So, women entrepreneurs of the world, prepare your business plans for next year’s Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards!

The ceremony of the first Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards took place tonight Friday. The Awards are an international business plan competition for women entrepreneurs. It’s a collaboration of the Women’s Forum and Cartier with the support of McKinsey and INSEAD. There were 14 finalists, and the 2007 winners, who received the award from Aude de Thuin, founder of the Forum, and Bernard Fornas, CEO of Cartier International, are:

Africa: Lucie Avoaka, Santa Maria Medical Center, Ivory Coast (healthcare provider in the underprivileged region of Abobo, Cote d’Ivoire).

Asia: Nandini Pandhi and Yasmina McCarthy, Green Mango, India/Philippines (mobile phone-based virtual marketplace for low-income entrepreneurs and their customers in developing countries).

Europe: Bettina Götzenberger, LOmasLEGAL, Spain (low-cost legal services available from high-street stores, over the phone, and via the internet).

Latin America: Antonia Sanin, The Globe, Colombia (day-care center for children aged 3 to 6 that offers educational products and services developed from the experiences learned at center — workshops, manuals, blog…).

North America: Angel Chang, Angel Chang LLC, USA (luxury apparel with “performance” elements and functional designs: special stain-proof, wrinkle-free and odor-free material, color-changing silkscreen prints, 3-D optical illusion prints, fiber optics…)

Here they are, clockwise from top left, Nandini Pandhi, Angel Chang, Bettina Götzenberger, Antonia Sanin and Lucie Avoaka:

Scenes from the Women’s Forum 2007. A break at the main bar:

Discovering the “Rising Talents“:

At the Cartier Women’s Initiative Award booth (a joint project by Cartier, McKinsey and Insead aimed at encouraging female startup entrepreneurs), getting ready for tonight’s presentation of the finalists:

Say it with flowers: