Tessa Clarke has been announced as the 2023 Bold Woman Award winner by Veuve Clicquot, the longest-running international accolade honouring impressive women in business.
At a glittering award ceremony in London, Clarke collected the award, following in the footsteps of previous winners, including Professor Sarah Gilbert recognised in 2021 for her work leading the development of the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine, CEO of Selfridges Group, Anne Pitcher in 2020 and renowned architect Dame Zaha Hadid in 2013. The ceremony was hosted at Veuve Clicquot’s Solaire Culture Exhibition, which shines a light on the 250 years of the House’s history with an immersive journey, featuring nine bold and renowned female artists including; Yayoi Kusama, Sheila Hicks and manga artist Moyoco Anno.
The Bold Woman Award has been running since 1972, making it the first and longest-running international accolade for female business leaders. The 2023 awards focus on female founders who found new ways to innovate the fashion, finance, investment, and manufacturing industries. Each finalist is assessed through four key areas: “successfully reinventing traditions, demonstrating entrepreneurial daring, championing better representation of female leaders and maintaining an ethical approach to business.”
Clarke is the 51st woman to hold his award, recognising the entrepreneurial success of her food-sharing app Olio. The business has grown quickly since launching in 2015, with over 7 million using Olio and partnerships established with major food retailers, including Tesco, Iceland and Amazon Fresh. Olio has already saved over 100 million portions of food from going to waste and has created communities of sharing globally.
At an empowering award ceremony in London, Clarke collected the award, following in the footsteps of previous winners, including Professor Sarah Gilbert, recognised in 2021 for her work leading the development of the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine, CEO of Selfridges Group, Anne Pitcher in 2020 and renowned architect Dame Zaha Hadid in 2013.
The ceremony was hosted at Veuve Clicquot’s Solaire Culture Exhibition, which shines a light on the 250 years of the House’s history with an immersive journey, featuring nine bold and renowned female artists, including; Yayoi Kusama, Sheila Hicks and manga artist Moyoco Anno.
Veuve Clicquot also awarded the Bold Future Award Karen Scofield Seal, CEO and founder of OCEANIUM. Spinning seaweed threads into gold, Karen develops seaweed-based products as co-founder and CEO of Oceanium. With products designed to combat the global climate crisis, Oceanium has raised over $7.5 million in funding in its beginning entrepreneurial stages.
The Bold Woman Award judges were impressed by Karen’s commitment to delivering impact within her business and the wider value chain and to systemic change in food, materials and production systems. As well as her ambition to enable the seaweed farming industry in the western hemisphere.
Finding role models and mentors can be instrumental to female entrepreneurs to inspire and guide them on their business journey. Two-thirds of the women surveyed for the report believed that having a role model to look up to is an essential part of becoming a successful entrepreneur. This figure rose to nearly all female wantrepreneurs, with 92% stating that female entrepreneurs inspire them.
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All imagery courtesy of Veuve Clicquot.