SELECTION CRITERIA
The Jury evaluates the applications based on the following criteria:
• Market analysis & fit
• Financial & business model sustainability
• Leadership team & character of founder
• Strategy & execution
• Embedded positive social impact
• Commitment to Cartier Women's Initiative
• Quality of submission
To view the detailed list of criteria used by the jury to evaluate your business, click here.
SELECTION PROCESS
The selection process is divided into two rounds: the finalists' selection and the laureates' selection.
• Round 1: The jury selects 21 finalists, the top three applicants of each region (Latin America & the Caribbean, North America, Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East & North Africa, East Asia, South Asia & Oceania), on the basis of their application form.
• Round 2: The finalists are invited to the final round, which includes submitting further business information and presenting their business in front of their regional jury panel during the preparatory training week. Based on the selection criteria, one laureate for each of the seven regions is selected. The announcement of the 7 laureates for the Regional Awards, along with the laureate for the Science & Technology Pioneer Award, will take place during the Awards Ceremony.
SELECTION TIMELINE
• August 2020: The CWI team and selection committee screen out the ineligible and weakest applications.
• September - October 2020: Our due diligence partner runs a desk diligence on the top 10 best applications per region. This desk diligence includes a research call and the collection of additional documentation from the shortlisted applicants. The CWI team selects 5 applications to move on to the next stage.
• October - November 2020: Our due diligence partner runs an in-depth virtual due diligence on the top 5 businesses per region. This involves a series of calls with the founder, senior management team, suppliers, partners and clients of the company. Additional documentation may also be requested at this stage. Our due diligence partner then drafts a detailed memo that is shared with the CWI team and the jury to support them in their decision-making.
• January 12th – 25th 2021: Each jury panel reviews the top 5 applications from its region. The jury members, who are granted access to the application form, supporting documents and the due diligence memo, are tasked with the responsibility of selecting the top three businesses per region on the basis of the CWI selection criteria. On the day of the evaluation, each applicant will have 5 min to present her business followed by 15 min of Q&A with their jury panel. These top three businesses per region −which amount to a total of 21 businesses in total− are nominated as part of our 2021 cohort of fellows and move on to the next phase of the programme along with the 3 businesses selected for the Science & Technology Pioneer Award.
• April 23rd 2021: The 24 fellows will be announced on social media and in the press.
• May 10th – 17th 2021: During the second round of evaluation, the jury members are tasked with the responsibility of selecting the laureate amongst the three fellows for their region. In addition to the material which the jury members were granted access to during the first round of evaluation, they will also receive a write-up from Cartier detailing the fellow’s dedication to program resources and commitment to the vision of the CWI. On the day of the evaluation, each fellow will have 15 min to present her business followed by 30 min of Q&A with their jury panel. In total, the jury will be asked to pick one laureate for each of the seven regions and one laureate for the Science & Technology Pioneer Award.
• May 26th 2021: The eight laureates will be announced during the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards ceremony which is set to take place either in NYC, USA or online (exact format TBC).
The applicants who have not been selected will be informed of the status of their application by the end of the month of February 2021.
