Celebrating the Community Leader of the Year Finalists

Jun 13

Community Leader of the Year Finalists 2025

This award celebrates the women whose vision and leadership have built safe, vibrant spaces where members connect around shared goals and values. Our finalists have shown outstanding commitment to nurturing inclusive, meaningful communities – driving engagement, sparking collaboration, and elevating every voice.

Karen Thatcher - Thatch Creative

About:
Karen is a Kent-based Creative & Communications Consultant who crafts campaigns for charities and small businesses. A former nurse forced to pivot for personal reasons, she built her skills from the ground up and now delivers branding, design, video, and web projects that put empathy at the centre. Karen co-founded The Beehive women’s boutique and social enterprise, runs an empathy-themed card shop, and is launching a podcast to share real stories that connect and inspire.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Karen turns empathy into measurable action. In the last year, she has been developing Digital Women Local to grow from a Kent meet-up into a national community network, trained a team to open up a second boutique, clocked many volunteer hours, and readied her podcast to spotlight unheard stories – all while advising charities on digital comms and running an empathy card shop. Karen continues to create inclusive spaces where communities connect, grow, and thrive.

Emma Redfern - Studio Self-Made

About:
Emma is a brand designer, strategist, and mental health advocate who founded Studio Self-Made to help early-career creatives – especially those from underrepresented backgrounds – build sustainable businesses without sacrificing wellbeing. Her personal experiences with anxiety have given her a unique perspective on the critical need for accessible mental health resources.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Emma is shortlisted because Studio Self-Made has become a lifeline for underrepresented creatives, equipping young founders and freelancers with the tools, mindset, and inclusive brand identities they need to thrive and spark change in their communities. In two years she has secured grants, delivered workshops and mentoring to 1000+ young creatives, matched many with paid gigs, and reached vast online audiences through story-driven content that champions neurodivergent talent.

Regina Martin - The Confidence Healer Ltd

About:
Regina is a visibility strategist, brand designer, and founder of The Confidence Healer Ltd, where she helps entrepreneurs – especially those from marginalised communities – show up with clarity, confidence, and authenticity. Drawing on 15 years in the charity and digital sectors, she pairs strategic branding with coaching that tackles the microaggressions and exclusion she once faced. Regina also created The NETwork, an exclusively inclusive networking community that offers safe, accessible spaces for genuine connection and collaboration.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Regina has been shortlisted for the success of her exclusively inclusive networking community that puts accessibility and representation first. In just 12 months she has attracted hundreds of engaged online members, launched thriving in-person chapters in Sheffield, Manchester, and Birmingham, and created a tiered model of free events, affordable memberships, and visibility support that centres entrepreneurs from marginalised backgrounds. Regina is reshaping how – and for whom – business communities work.

Ellie Clogher - The Society of Virtual Assistants Ireland and Rulu Virtual

About:
Ellie is an online business strategist, mentor, podcast host, and co-founder of the Society of Virtual Assistants Ireland (SVAI). Since launching her own VA business in 2020, she has expanded into 1-to-1 mentoring, digital products, and a podcast. At the SVAI, Ellie and partner Cat Tobin run monthly member calls, a job board, and more, fostering a collaborative community that makes VAs feel seen, supported, and valued.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Ellie is shortlisted for this award for transforming a tiny Facebook group into the SVAI, a national hub that now offers paid membership, a busy job board, monthly roundtables, and a Summit & Awards. She co-runs every detail, while also hosting a podcast and mentoring VAs worldwide. Ellie’s strength is hands-on care: she’s in the chats daily, answering questions, matching members with work, and ensuring that every virtual assistant feels seen, supported, and part of something bigger.

Temi Kamson - GT Scholars CIC

About:
Temi is the Founder and CEO of GT Scholars, a social-mobility charity. Temi credits an engineering summer programme for setting her own trajectory: a master’s in Civil Engineering, a stint in investment banking, and ultimately a PGCE that took her into inner-city classrooms. Seeing talented pupils shut out of opportunity by postcode or income, she launched GT Scholars in 2015 to remove those barriers.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Temi is shortlisted for her game-changing work with GT Scholars and her summer coding programme, which together have reached more than 5000 young people and 860 participants in 2024 alone. By pairing girls from low-income and under-represented backgrounds with coding workshops, mentors and real tech role models, she has lifted coding confidence and given clearer career goals – directly tackling the gender and skills gaps in STEM. Temi’s mission is clear: every young person, regardless of background, should have the support and skills to design their own future.

Lori Mihalich - LevinMindful Return

About:
Lori Mihalich-Levin is the founder of Mindful Return, an author, health-care attorney, and podcast co-host. Dubbed a working-mama guru, Lori believes in empowering new working parents, and her work has been featured in Forbes, The Washington Post, and NYT Parenting. A Georgetown University Law graduate, she advises hospitals on Medicare payments, and off the clock enjoys yoga and life with her husband and their two boys.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Lori is shortlisted for turning her own struggle with the return-to-work transition into Mindful Return, a decade-old global community that has guided more than 3000 new parents to stay – and thrive – in their careers. Her confidential e-course has kept 85% of alumni at the same employer five years later, compared with a U.S. norm where one-third of mothers exit the workforce after childbirth. By securing companies to fund the programme as an HR benefit, offering free meditations and weekly tips, Lori has built a digital “village” that showcases the power of inclusive community leadership.

The Digital Women Awards are proud to celebrate these extraordinary individuals.