Cartier awards female entrepreneurs in Shenzhen for first time

Cyrille Vigneron, CEO and president of Cartier, delivers a speech at the Cartier Women’s Initiative 2024 Awards Ceremony in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on May 22.

A group photo of Cartier Women’s Initiative 2024 Awards Ceremony in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on May 22.

This year for the first time, the awarding ceremony for the Cartier Women’s Initiative, an annual international entrepreneurship program running for 18 years, was held in China. The ceremony took place on May 22 in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, a city that is considered a hub of entrepreneurship and innovation in China.

Cartier has a long-standing commitment to women’s empowerment. The award provides female entrepreneurs with financial, social and human capital support to help grow their business and build their leadership skills.

So far, the initiative has supported 330 women entrepreneurs from 66 countries, and accumulatively provided funds of $9.5 million for the awardees.

This annual program features 11 awards, comprising nine regional awards and two thematic awards, and the total number of awardees reached 33. This year, the theme again focused on Forces for Good, as it illustrated the program’s ambitions to strengthen the bond that unites its community.

“China has become one of the most vibrant countries for entrepreneurs in general, and for female social entrepreneurs in particular. It was natural to bring the Cartier Women’s Initiative event to China,” said Cyrille Vigneron, CEO and president of Cartier, who attended the awarding ceremony in Shenzhen.

“Plus, China has developed strong programs to support women entrepreneurship in recent years, thus playing a role in the collective achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030,” Vigneron said.

Vigneron said women are key agents of development and change, and empowering women is vital to building fair, inclusive and peaceful societies.

The Cartier Women’s Initiative contributed to this global effort, and grants the laureates not only financial support, but also necessary skills, knowledge, mentorship and networking to help them thrive.

Among 33 fellows from different regions this year, two of them are Chinese. Yu Xiaodan, an experienced underwear designer, has developed brassieres that are suitable for postoperative patients with breast cancer to wear.

Founded in 2021, her company Ginger Ah offered more reasonable prices than similar products in the market and has sold over 10,000 brassieres to some 5,000 consumers so far. Yu said next, she plans to expand the production lines for more diversified products such as sports underwear, swim-wear and home clothing.

Another Chinese fellow is Du Xintong, founder and CEO of Voice-Changer that provides offline and online treatment and rehabilitation services for children with language disorders.

Since being set up in 2016, the firm has trained some 1,300 language therapists. By providing online courses and services at language centers nationwide, it has assisted over 8,000 children aged between 2 and 16 to regain normal expression ability. The average recovery time for patients is one to three months, while the industry average is six to 12 months.

“Women have always had a pivotal role at Cartier, acting as both a driving force and an endless source of inspiration. We have been fully committed to supporting women empowerment through diverse long-lasting initiatives,” Vigneron said.

Besides, the company empowers female leaders, such as appointing regional female CEOs, including in China, Japan and South Korea, it said.

In addition to the initiative, through Cartier Philanthropy it “helps improve the lives of the most vulnerable and marginalized communities and with a strong focus on women and girls, so that they can live the lives they deserve”, noted Vigneron.

Meanwhile, with long-lasting connections to China, Cartier plans to further strengthen its ties with the country by jointly launching a program with the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, which is headquartered in Beijing.

Based on the framework of Cartier Women’s Initiative, this tailored program that focuses on leadership and empowerment aims to support Chinese women entrepreneurs by enhancing their business strategies and governance. It will also help explore innovative approaches for business development for women and amplify their positive contributions to the society.

“Through joint content planning and research collaboration, this unique partnership commits to provide outlooks for the domestic women entrepreneurship studies, and help strengthen the long-lasting social and environmental impact of women businesses,” said Vigneron.

Furthermore, in continuation of the Women’s Pavilion at the World Expo 2020 Dubai, Cartier is partnering with the World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Kansai, Japan, by restating the manifesto “when women thrive, humanity thrives”.

The upcoming pavilion will carry the same name and ambition to shed light on women’s contribution to society, driven by the conviction that full and equal participation of women in all fields is essential to building a more equitable world.

“The World Expo used to present pavilions of different countries, but the gender gap is still a reality in most countries. This means that the World Expo would not represent the entire world if only showcasing countries, and thus there is need for a dedicated Women’s Pavilion, celebrating half of the humanity,” said Vigneron.

This is why, more than ever, it is crucial to pull everyone’s efforts and forces to fight inequalities and create a brighter future for generations to come, he added.