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Leadership and responsibility
Show how you have led people, decisions, services or change, and explain the responsibility you carried.
Part of the Global Business Excellence Awards
Women in Excellence Awards 2026
Recognition for women whose work moves industries, organisations and communities forward.
A focused GBE Awards platform
Meaningful work deserves a clear record
Women in Excellence gives focused space within GBE Awards to the work women lead, create and sustain. It is designed for achievement with substance behind it, from building a company or changing a profession to strengthening a service, a creative field or a community.
The programme welcomes women at different career stages, in organisations of different sizes, across the UK, Sri Lanka and international markets. What matters is a clear contribution, credible evidence and an outcome worth understanding.
What a strong entry can show
Where excellence shows up
Excellence is not one job title or one kind of result. These are useful evidence areas, not a replacement for the official GBE Awards categories.
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Enterprise and growth
Describe the business, practice or initiative you have built, strengthened or taken into a new stage of development.
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Innovation and problem-solving
Set out the problem you addressed, the thinking behind your approach and what improved as a result.
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Professional or creative contribution
Share work that has raised standards, shaped an audience or made a distinctive contribution to your field.
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Service and community impact
Explain who benefited from your work and the practical difference it made for a community, organisation or sector.
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Resilience and progress
Give context to a difficult challenge and show the decisions, consistency and learning that moved the work forward.
Inclusive by career, sector and scale
Who should apply?
You do not need to be a founder, a chief executive or a public figure. The strongest reason to apply is that you can explain the work you were responsible for and the difference it made.
- Founders and entrepreneurs
- Executives and team leaders
- Professionals and specialists
- Educators and researchers
- Creators and media figures
- Community and social-impact leaders
Make the work easy to understand
Build an application around evidence
A strong application is not a long list of adjectives. It gives the reviewer enough context to understand the work, your part in it and the result.
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Set the context
Introduce the organisation, field or community and the challenge or opportunity behind the work.
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Explain your role
Be precise about what you led, created, changed or delivered, especially where the work involved a wider team.
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Show the outcome
Use clear results, examples or milestones that help the reviewer understand what changed and why it matters.
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Add supporting material
Include relevant documents, links, coverage, testimonials or other evidence that supports the central achievement.
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Choose the closest fit
Select the GBE Awards category that most accurately reflects the work rather than trying to cover every possible area.
A straightforward route
How applications move forward
Use the official application portal, provide accurate information and keep the supporting material relevant to the achievement you want considered.
Submit the application
Complete the GBE Awards application with the nominee, contact and supporting information requested in the form.
Organiser review
The organiser reviews the information provided and may contact the applicant if clarification or further material is needed.
Recognition decision
Applicants are informed of the outcome through the official GBE Awards process and the relevant award record is prepared for selected recipients.
Real event moments
Recognition in the room
Photographs from the Global Business Excellence Awards ceremony, featuring recipients, guests and moments of recognition.
Before you apply
Women in Excellence FAQs
Clear answers about eligibility, evidence and the application process.
What is Women in Excellence?
Women in Excellence is a focused part of the Global Business Excellence Awards 2026. It recognises women whose leadership, professional work, enterprise, creativity or service has produced a meaningful result.
Who can apply for the Women in Excellence Awards?
Applications are welcome from women across different career stages, sectors and organisation sizes. This can include founders, executives, professionals, educators, researchers, creators, media figures and community leaders.
Is the programme only for business owners?
No. You do not need to be a founder or chief executive. A strong application can come from professional, creative, academic, public-facing, community or organisational work where your own contribution is clear.
Which sectors are included?
The wider GBE Awards programme covers fields including business, technology, finance, healthcare, media, education, retail, hospitality, manufacturing, sustainability and social impact. Applicants should choose the category that best matches their work.
What evidence makes an application stronger?
Useful evidence can include measurable outcomes, project examples, independent coverage, client or stakeholder feedback, published work, professional records and links that verify the achievement. The most important point is to connect the evidence to your own role.
Can women outside the UK and Sri Lanka apply?
Yes. GBE Awards recognises achievement across the UK, Sri Lanka and international markets. The application should clearly identify where the work took place and who benefited from it.
Can someone nominate another person?
Yes. A colleague, organisation or representative can put a woman forward, provided the application contains accurate information and the nominee can be contacted through the official process.
How do I apply?
Use the official GBE Awards application portal and complete each step of the form. If you need help before submitting, contact the awards team through the official WhatsApp link on this page.
Applications are open
Bring your work forward
Tell the story with context, show your role clearly and support the achievement with evidence that can be reviewed.