Awardees have been selected through a rigorous selection process. This has involved a combination of consultations, due diligence and work by a Selections Committee.

The first step involved widespread consultations with a number of executives of organized womens groups, professional and business associations, civil society groups and selected journalists who cover activities from which our award categories are derived. These consultations, done on an informal basis to ensure confidentiality and to protect the integrity of the process, were used to derive the nominations for selection of awardees.

The next step involved due diligence on the activities, conduct, achievements and accomplishments of all the nominees by independent consultants whom the organizers specifically contracted for this purpose. Our consultants compiled and presented us with brief, confidential evaluation dossiers on each of the nominees.

Finally, a specially constituted Selections Commitee comprising representation from both the organizers and from certain carefully selected individuals, met to discuss the dossiers complied on each nominee, evaluate each of them and decide on the most preferred candidate for conferment of an award in each award category. The Committee was mandated to not only consider the criteria set out below, but also whether a nominees accomplishments and contributions have been recognized by the public or not. Where there has been a choice has had to be made in a particular category between a nominee whose achievements and stature are already widely acknowledged, and another whose contributions have as yet gone largely unrecognized, the Committee has tended to opt for the relatively less publicly known figure on the basis that our awards seek to bring female high achievers into the public domain from outside it where ever possible.

In selecting awardees we considered the following criteria.

+ Personal and professional integrity and exemplary conduct on both levels
+ Professional accomplishment
+ Contributions to the development of society as a whole
+ The level of public awareness and recognition already received.

Inevitably, as with any award selection process based on subjective, qualitative considerations rather than objective, quantitatively measurable criteria, there may be differences of opinion between our Selection Committee and some observers and commentators. However we wish to assure all that the selection process was conducted with integrity and in utmost good faith at every stage of the process.s