The Awards
The Advocate
An advocate is an individual or organization who uses their public platform to promote and advance women’s causes.
The Company
brought to you by Cooley
This organization has built and uses its platform to support and advance women, forging meaningful outcomes and championing change in its industry as a whole.
The Founder
brought to you by Microsoft Azure
A founder has persevered in the face of adversity to launch and grow a business.
The Sponsor
brought to you by Reverb
A sponsor leverages their network and resources to help the women that they mentor advance and succeed in their career.
The Role Model
brought to you by Seattle Bank
A role model demonstrates what is possible for ambitious women. They are someone with a long trajectory, demonstrated integrity and leadership in their field, who inspires other women to strive for greatness.
Unsung Heroes
brought to you by Team FFA
Business leaders and investors that have worked tirelessly in the shadows to provide meaningful support to our communities. Whether being on the front lines during the global pandemic or being active in the fight against racial injustice.
The 2021 Winners
Winner: Advocate Award Tabitha is a mental health therapist, activist, international speaker, consultant & EDJA founder. EDJA provides free medical, legal, and mental health services to survivors of sexual assault in East Africa. EDJA has sparked rapid change by supporting hundreds of survivors and bringing perpetrators to justice.
Winner: Founder Award Ruzwana founded Peek.com the #1 platform in the USA for travel experiences with over $1 billion in bookings. Peek.com combines an award-winning marketplace for consumers with powerful booking/payment tools for small businesses (Peek Pro). Peek.com has raised over $50million in funding. Ruzwana has been named one of Fortune's Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business and was a Finalist for E&Y’s Entrepreneur
Winner: Role Model Award Minda Harts is the CEO of The Memo LLC and an award- winning and best-selling author of The Memo: What Women of Color Need To Know To Secure A Seat At The Table. Minda is a Professor at NYU Wagner and hosts a live weekly podcast called Secure The Seat. In 2020, Minda was named the #1 Top Voice for Equity in the workplace by Linkedin. She is an Aspen Ideas Festival Scholar and has been featured on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Fast Company, The NY Times, and Time Magazine.
Winner: Sponsor Award Phyllis Newhouse is an entrepreneur, retired military senior officer, mentor and founder and CEO of Xtreme Solutions, Inc. Newhouse is also the CEO of Athena Technology Acquisition Corp., a $250 million blank-check company whose IPO is on the New York Stock Exchange and one of the first Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) to be led entirely by women. A pioneer in business, she is the first Black woman to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
Winner: Company Award All Raise is a nonprofit on a mission to accelerate the success of female and non-binary founders and funders to build a more prosperous, equitable future with a goal to increase the amount of funding going to female and non-binary founders, and double the number of female and non-binary checkwriters in venture.
Our Partners
The 2021 Champions Committee
Senior Vice President, Marketing Communications & Community Relations at Seattle Bank
Founder & CEO, Diversability
General Partner, Zane Venture Fund
CEO, Girls Scouts of Western Washington
Founder & CEO Candour, Author
Equity Consultant | Speaker | Executive Leadership Coach
President & CEO Pacific Science Center
Co-founder Copacino+Fujikado
General Partner, Backstage Capital
VP of Business Development, FFA
Corporate Vice President, Azure Compute, Microsoft
Partner, Cooley LLP
Senior Director of Engagement and Diversity, Avalara
COO, FFA
VP Marketing, FFA
CEO, DVF, Entrepreneur, Investor, Start up Advisor
President, Media Networks at Stage TEN
Founder & CEO Female Founders Alliance
CEO & Founder, LegUp | Board member FFA
Philanthropist & Community Builder
The Champion Awards are a grassroots celebration of diverse leadership. Hosted by the Female Founders Alliance, the awards recognize champions of equity across industries, selected by the people they lead.
The Champion Awards are a 3-month process that involves FFA’s large and thriving community, culminating in an unforgettable ceremony and party. Last year, thousands of women nominated and voted for more than 600 champions. Nominees included Lisa Jackson (Apple's vice president of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives), Charlotte Clymer (Press Secretary for Rapid Response at Human Rights Campaign) and Toni Hoover (Head of Strategy Planning & Management at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation). Read more of last year's coverage here.
Nearly 400 women and allies attended the online watch party, followed by a more intimate VIP mix and mingle. The awards show featured cameos from influential women like the international soccer star and activist Megan Rapinoe, and Pattie Sellers, the editor who founded and led Fortune's Most Powerful Women.
In all, the awards garnered almost 100k impressions across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
The Champion Awards were founded in 2018 at the outset of the #metoo movement. In under three years they’ve grown from a Seattle-based tech community celebration to a national event that crosses industries. In 2021, we’re poised to cross over to a mainstream national audience, and we’re looking for the right partners to take that step with us. Is that you?
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