I donned the only suit I owned last Thursday, May 12 to go hobnob at the third annual Women in Business Leadership Awards. As the champagne flowed, Beijing’s most powerful business women shared ideas and business cards over fillet mignon. A few of them even took home a chunky trophy to add to their crystal collections.
Tue Run Media (makers of such fine publications as beijingkids, The Beijinger, Agenda) was represented in two awards categories: HRD of the Year (Grace Wang, HR manager) and Young Achiever of the Year (Jennifer Thome, managing editor of Agenda). Grace received the People’s Choice award, while Jennifer came a graceful second to Jasmine Keel of Viva fame.
This year’s Working Mother of the Year Award went to Lily Chen, talent manager at ABB. Dedicating her award to her son, Lily used her acceptance speech to acknowledge the struggle that comes with finding that elusive work/life balance. "Being a working mother in China isn’t easy. [Mothers] have so much pressure. As a working woman I seldom have time to be with my son."
The People’s Choice award for Working Mother of the Year went to Shanlenn Colby, senior product manager at Microsoft. Shanlenn urged working mothers to find support networks and mentors, and never be afraid to ask for help. She dedicated her award to "every single working mother."
Award categories included Young Achiever of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Business Woman of the Year, Working Mother of the Year, HRD of the Year, Marcom Director of the Year and three new categories, titled the Superhero Awards.
For more information about the awards click here. To see the gallery click here.
