In addition to outstanding leadership skills, business acumen, and exceptional growth in her area of expertise, Businesswoman of the Year finalists must demonstrate a strong level of community engagement. The judging panel looks for qualities such as passion, innovation, and dedication to success. There are also other criteria, including a significant number of awards and recognition, and a high level of public engagement.
Julie-Ann Haines
Julie-Ann Haines is a UK businesswoman who has worked in the financial sector for a number of years. She joined the Principality Building Society in 2007 and has since been involved in the development of the society’s e-commerce offering. At the end of 2012, she was promoted to become its Customer Director and ensured that the organisation was at the forefront of the rapidly-changing customer landscape.
Previously, Haines was the chief customer officer of the Principality building society, the largest building society in Wales. In her role, she has gathered more than 20 years of experience in the financial and retail sector. Haines will take over as CEO from interim CEO Mike Jones, subject to regulatory approval.
Iseult Ward
Iseult Ward is a social entrepreneur, founder and ceo of FoodCloud, an app that matches businesses with excess food with local charities. Her company has diverted more than 8,000 tonnes of food from landfill and provided 18 million meals for people in need. Her work has been recognised with awards including Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Europe 2017 and Time Magazine’s ‘Next Generation Leaders’. She received a BA in Business and Economics from Trinity College Dublin.
Iseult Ward has been an active member of the sustainable business sector for many years. She has developed a passion for food and sustainability and has a deep interest in food waste management. In her third year at Trinity, she met her co-founder, Aoibheann O’Brien, who was studying environmental science. Together, they had witnessed the problems of food waste, and began brainstorming about solutions.
FoodCloud was founded by Ward and her business partner Aoibheann O’Brien, two young people with a similar passion for food. The two students decided to use the skills they gained at Trinity to create a business that would help combat food waste. FoodCloud has received awards for its innovative ideas and its mission to help people who are hungry.
Other recent awards include inclusion on the Forbes 30 under 30 list for social entrepreneurs. She has received the Humanitarian Award from the Irish Red Cross and the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Special Achievement Award. She has also received the Social Responsibility Award for the UK Dept. of Trade’s inaugural European Tech Women Awards, as well as the Trinity Alumni Award.
The IMAGE PwC Businesswoman of the Year Awards announced its 2022 winners at a black-tie ceremony. The event honoured 12 women including Fiona Dawson CBE and Eva Pau. Pau grew up in the family business, an Asian market store on Dublin’s Drury Street. In fact, she even spent part of her childhood there.