The Spanish entrepreneur Amaia Rodríguez and the efforts she has made through her company Gravity Wave to eliminate plastic from lakes, seas and rivers are one of the 33 finalists of the Cartier Women's Initiative awards that recognize significant achievements and solutions to the most global challenges. pressing issues contributed by women.
Celebrating 17 years, these awards have become an effective comprehensive international program that shines a light on impactful women entrepreneurs and provides them with the financial, social and human capital support necessary to grow their businesses and develop their leadership skills.
"Women in business are a powerful force. Since 2006, Cartier's commitment to their empowerment through this initiative aims to champion and celebrate a global network of women in business whose strength, courage and determination are truly remarkable. They are changing the world," explains Cyrille Vigneron, president and CEO of Cartier International.
One of these decisive women that the House has focused on to join its network is Amaia Rodríguez. This young Spanish woman co-founded Gravity Wave in 2020 to partner with traditional fishermen from the Mediterranean, Cantabrian and Atlantic seas to remove plastic waste. They are mainly fishing nets that she then recycles to transform into furniture and other products with a long useful life.
"When I realized the reality of plastic pollution in the ocean, I couldn't sit idly by. I decided not to wait for someone else to do something about it. I was the person who was waiting," explains Amaia Rodríguez, who warns that every Every year, between 19 and 23 million tons of plastic are dumped in lakes, rivers and seas and most people are unaware that more than 40% of those that end up in the seas are fishing nets.
For this edition, 27 scholarship recipients have been selected for the 9 regional awards and 6 scholarship holders for the 2 thematic awards. These 11 awards recognize and fund talented impact entrepreneurs from around the world who harness business as a force for good.e name the 33 fellows selected for this year's edition of the Cartier Women's Initiative, recognizing their notable achievements and meaningful solutions to the most pressing global challenges.
The regional awards represent talented women with positive energy to solve crises from Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, Europe, Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa (from 2023), Anglophone and Lusophone Africa, the Middle East and North Africa (from 2011), East Asia, South Asia and Central Asia (since 2019), and Oceania (since 2023).
For three years there has also been a Science and Technology award that recognizes disruptive solutions built around unique, protected or difficult to reproduce technological or scientific advances and, since 2023, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award that seeks to promote business solutions to close gaps in access, outcomes or opportunities for communities that have been underrepresented or underserved. The winners of each of the 11 awards will be announced during the ceremony that will take place on May 22 in Shenzhen, the Chinese city that is the cradle of a broad startup ecosystem. Under the theme "Forces for Good", this year's ceremony will reflect the programme's ambition to drive a broader collective effort to achieve positive change in society.
