Excitement builds ahead of Cork Business Woman of the Year Final

THE winners of the Network Cork Business woman of the Year will be announced on Wednesday June 2.

Twenty-five finalists are shortlisted for the awards across eight categories.

Finalists for the Power Within Champion Award include Miriam Bourke, Invesco; Kathy O’Dwyer, Career Training Internships, and Diane Higgins, Diane Higgins Design.

In the Solo Businesswoman category are Noreen Roche, Epona Retreat Centre; Lucie Al, Lucie Al Portraits & Lucie Al Creative; and Michelle Dinneen, Ardin Career Development.

Up for Emerging New Business are Ingrid Seim, Avenues Consultancy & Coaching; Karen Goodliffe, SurePlan Financial; and Noella Carroll, Pinnaklo Ltd. In the Established Business category are Adrianna Hegarty, Hegarty Properties; Carol Brick, HerMoney; Kathy O’Dwyer, Career Training Internships; and Liz Gavin, Eur Digital Village.

The three finalists in the Employee - Rising Star category are Ciara Keane, DePuy Synthes Johnson & Johnson; Elena Canty, Event Plan; and Kate Scannell, Grant Thornton.

Up for Employee - Shining Star are Miriam Bourke, Invesco; Sinéad O’Dea, Griffith College Cork; and Konstantina Stefanidou, Depuy Synthes Johnson & Johnson.

For Creative Professional, finalists include Fiona Kennedy, Fiona Kennedy Music; Stef McSherry, Kinderama; and Monika Nowakowska, Lady of the Valley. In the STEM category are Anne Marie Butler, Edlong; Lena Angland, Wanderful; and Tara Shine, Change by Degrees.

The winners from the Network Cork Businesswoman of the Year Awards will go forward for the national Network Ireland Business Awards on October 8.

Judges include former Tánaiste Mary Harney, who was a guest speaker at a Network Ireland Cork webinar last year; Sharon Corcoran, Director of Economic Development & Tourism at Cork County Council; and Vicki Crean, AIB Manager of Service and Sales, Cork City. The category sponsors are DePuy Synthes, Grant Thornton, Kinsale Gin, Lady of the Valley, O'Flynn Exhams, Partnership International and Transilient Coaching.

The winners from the Network Cork Businesswoman of the Year Awards will go forward for the national Network Ireland Business Awards on 8 October in WIT Arena, Waterford.

Speaking on the Businesswoman of the Year Awards, Network Ireland Cork President, Barbara Nugent said: “In these challenging times, many business women have proved their resilience and innovation in the face of adversity and their ability to create concrete and sustainable solutions, not only for their own businesses, but also for the wider community. 

"We are delighted to applaud these exceptional business women by celebrating them, and their professional achievements, on 2 June.” 

The organisation’s Vice-President and Awards Co-ordinator, Maria Desmond expressed her appreciation to this year’s judges and sponsors on behalf of Network Ireland Cork. “We thank our category sponsors; our Network Cork sponsor, LEO; and our official Network Ireland partner, AIB for their support in the promotion of female business leadership. We would also like to thank our judges for their hard-work and the unenviable task of whittling the huge number of entries down to 25.” 

Speaking ahead of the awards, MC for the evening Keith Cunningham said: “I am honoured to be involved in Network Cork’s Businesswoman of the Year Awards. With eight awards up for grabs, and one overall winner, it’s going to be exciting to see who wins. Wonderful to see such a diverse range of skills with high business acumen of the finalists who all work in and around Cork” 

Network Ireland Cork is a not-for-profit Cork organisation that is the largest branch of Network Ireland in the country.

For more information see www.networkireland.ie/cork.