The 2019 Cartier Women’s Initiative’s Seven Laureates

Words by Jeanna Lanting

May 22, 2019

With its commitment to showcase the significance of female entrepreneurs in today’s society, Cartier announced the seven laureates of the 2019 Cartier Women’s Initiative.

Above CWI 2019 Finalists

This year opened the competition to a 7th region, with Asia-Pacific being divided into two regions: Far East Asia and Southeast Asia Oceania. Japan and Switzerland also joined the initiative for the first time, allowing Cartier to receive 2,900 applications from 142 countries. After narrowing down the list to 21 finalists, Cartier was proud to introduce the seven laureates last 2 May at the Fort Mason Centre for Arts & Culture in San Francisco, USA.

Above Carmina Bayombong

Among the honourees is Carmina Bayombong, who hails from the Philippines, representing InvestEd, an investment platform that provides underserved youth with student loans through a propriety credit rating algorithm. The six other women include Yeon Jeong Cho from South Korea, Zineb Aguomi from France, Liza Velarde from Mexico, Hibah Shata from the United Arab Emirates, Ran Ma from the United States of America, and Manka Angwafo from Cameroon. Each laureate took home US $100,000 in prize money while the other 14 finalists received US $30,000.

Above The seven laureates with Cartier CEO Cyrille Vigneron

“With the Cartier Women’s Initiative, Cartier is reiterating its commitment to women entrepreneurs as well as the ambition to empower them to speak up and reveal their ideas,” says Cyrille Vigneron, CEO of Cartier International. “… By showing us at which point the world is diverse, this community of conquerors inspires us to go even further in supporting them to make their dreams true and make our world better.”