Celebrating the Women’s Champion Finalists

Jul 2

Women’s Champion Finalists 2025

Introducing the finalists for the 2025 Women’s Champion Award: 12 remarkable women who have pushed boundaries in their fields while lending a hand to others along the way. Each finalist has a different story, but they share a common thread of curiosity and generosity. Get to know them below and see how their everyday work is shaping a brighter, more inclusive tomorrow.

Jessica Williams Chadwick - Rock Salt Consulting

About:
Jess is a writer-turned-marketer and the founder of Rock Salt Consulting, where she helps women claim visibility and influence online – especially on LinkedIn. Jess draws on a career that has zig-zagged through TEFL teaching, proofreading, editing, and content creation before settling into digital marketing. Her current work spans LinkedIn content strategy, a course for solo marketing teams, and coaching programmes for women returning from career breaks. As the host of Digital Women Local London and organiser of a neighbourhood support group for returners, she has built a vibrant community that champions women’s voices.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Jess earned her place on the Women’s Champion Award shortlist for turning the idea of “visibility” into a practical movement that lifts other women as it grows. Over the past year she has scaled Rock Salt Consulting from a solo practice into a female-led micro-agency, co-authored a forthcoming book on thought leadership, launched a marketing podcast, and designed a toolbox of courses for solopreneurs and “teams of one.” Her impact, however, extends well beyond client work: she delivers Women@Google and #IamRemarkable workshops, hosts Digital Women Local London events where collaborations and new ventures routinely spark, and mentors women returning to the workforce after career breaks.

Lori Mihalich-Levin - Mindful Return

About:
Lori is a champion for new working parents. She founded Mindful Return and wrote a go-to guide for parents re-entering the workforce. A healthcare lawyer by training, Lori leads her own firm where she advises clients on Medicare graduate-medical-education payments, and she also co-hosts the Parents at Work Podcast. Lori’s insights on working parenthood appear in Forbes, The Washington Post, NYT Parenting, Thrive Global, and HuffPost. Her commitment to women’s equality and leadership dates back to her Princeton thesis on immigrant women facing domestic violence and pro-bono work through a Domestic Violence Clinic.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Lori earned her shortlist spot for turning a personal pain point – an isolating return from maternity leave –into Mindful Return, a decade-old global movement that has helped more than 3,000 parents in 113 workplaces transition back to their careers with confidence. By designing a four-week, coach-led e-course, she combines community, practical planning and mindset work to boost retention. Lori amplifies that impact through advocacy for gender-neutral paid leave, free guided meditations, weekly tactical tips, and corporate workshops that reframe parenthood as leadership training. Backed by glowing employer and participant testimonials, her work has saved careers, strengthened families and helped shift workplace culture toward valuing caregiving.

Melissa Patino - N26

About:
Melissa is a business engineer and finance professional with a tech-driven mindset and a banking background. Passionate about cryptocurrency and blockchain, she brings a global perspective shaped by roles across Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe. She has led FP&A, Controlling, and Strategic Finance teams in corporate environments and startup settings, and now works in senior finance at N26. Melissa is also the creator of Fintech Girl, a personal brand dedicated to empowering women and under-represented communities through accessible fintech education, open conversations about money, and inspiring, confidence-building investment guidance.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Melissa earned her place on the shortlist for her dual impact as a senior finance leader at N26 and as the founder of the Fintech Girl movement. Inside Europe’s leading digital bank, she built the Banking & Investments finance function from scratch, proving that a Latina can thrive and lead in rooms where women (let alone women of colour) are still rare. Through LinkedIn thought-leadership, podcast and conference appearances, and women-focused money events at N26 and beyond, Melissa sparks action – from first investments to long-term wealth plans. Her work shows that financial literacy is more than knowledge; it is opportunity. She is opening doors for the next generation of diverse leaders in fintech.

Christine Gritmon - Christine Gritmon Inc.

About:
Christine is a personal branding strategist and international speaker who shows professionals how to boost their online visibility in bigger, bolder ways. A former corporate-beauty marketer, graphic design freelancer, and journalist, she founded Christine Gritmon Inc. in 2016. What began as a social media service for local businesses evolved into training entrepreneurs to handle their own social presence – and ultimately into guiding people of all professions to discover, own, and amplify their personal brands. Christine shares her expertise on stages around the world, appears frequently as a guest on podcasts, livestreams, and industry chats, and hosts her own weekly show.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Christine doesn’t just talk about women showing up – she creates the spaces, sparks the conversations, and models the visibility that makes it happen. Whether she’s delivering free workshops for Digital Women, Level Up Ladies, and Businesswomen Unltd, interviewing majority-female guests on her podcast, or circulating event floors with a camera to capture attendees’ “superpowers,” Christine continuously pushes women to claim their talents out loud. It is this consistent, hands-on championing of women’s voices – paired with the strategic expertise to make those voices heard – that makes Christine a finalist for the Women’s Champion Award.

Anastasiia Nosova - Deep in Tech Gmbh

About:
Anastasiia is a microchip-design engineer turned deep-tech communicator and entrepreneur. After seven years developing cutting-edge AI processors, she launched a YouTube-based podcast that breaks down the worlds of semiconductors and artificial intelligence for a broad audience. The channel has grown into the largest deep-tech podcast online, reaching more than 250,000 subscribers and motivating a new generation to pursue careers in science and engineering.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Anastasiia was shortlisted for her ability to translate frontier-level technology into stories that resonate for the wider audience. She now has the largest deep-tech podcast on YouTube with a community of more than 300,000 across platforms. Her trademark is clarity: episodes that make topics like LLMs and novel computing architectures understandable – and exciting – for non-experts. By coupling deep engineering expertise with mass-reach education and a new hardware venture, Anastasia is opening the semiconductor and AI world to the next generation.

Tigz Rice - Tigz Rice Limited

About:
Tigz is an empowering photographer, videographer and content creator, best known for helping fearless humans – especially women and non-binary people – reconnect with their bodies and feel unapologetically confident. A first-class Illustration graduate of the University of Westminster, Tigz picked up a DSLR in 2007 and quickly became one of the world’s most in-demand boudoir and burlesque photographers. Tigz’s client roster spans survivors reclaiming their bodies after cancer to global fashion houses; inclusion and body autonomy sit at the heart of every shoot. She leads by example – speaking on BBC’s Naked Podcast, running Adobe Live tutorials, and hosting viral Boudoir Posing Series.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Over the past year Tigz has scaled both her creative reach and her impact on women’s visibility. She became house photographer for Soho’s new Underbelly Boulevard, fronted national press with her DB Shoes campaign starring Sara Davies MBE, and captured headline-grabbing stunts. Determined to keep opening doors, she upskilled through the RCA’s Film & TV Production programme, landing first producer-director credits on an advert for Insider, while re-recording her Adobe Lightroom course and designing an on-demand posing class. Tigz’s mission is clear: push creative boundaries, champion diversity, and make sure everyone she photographs sees themselves as the superhuman she knows they are.

Sobhitha Neelanath - Salesforce India

About:
Sobhitha is an accomplished engineering leader with almost two decades of experience across multiple domains and technologies. Currently heading the Service Cloud engineering team at Salesforce, she oversees CXI and several allied services. She previously worked at Dell, where – besides leading engineering – she was involved in many initiatives which tripled ERG engagement and led to a 20% rise in women applying for senior roles. A Google Women Techmakers Ambassador, Sobhitha has delivered global keynotes, technical mentoring hang-outs and DEI sessions.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Since taking charge of Service Cloud engineering at Salesforce, Sobhitha has been shaping high-stakes CXI services; before that, her time at Dell saw her energise the Bangalore campus as Site Lead for the Women in Action ERG. There she launched round-tables, book clubs, listening circles, group mentoring and a women-only hackathon. Beyond the day job she scales impact nationally and globally: growing Lean In Women in Tech India membership 40%, running speed mentoring, workplace skills series and negotiation workshops that have already propelled dozens of women into promotions or better opportunities. Whether designing ethical-AI talks, running girls’ STEM sessions or advising academia, Sobhitha has spent the past year enabling hundreds of women and girls to claim space in tech, which embodies the spirit of this award.

Sarah Strickland - From One Mum To Another

About:
Sarah is the founder of From One Mum to Another – one of Facebook’s largest judgement-free communities for mothers. What began over six years ago as a small support group has grown into a vibrant online space where women from every stage of motherhood swap advice, laughter, tears and solidarity. Sarah credits a strong family network for her instinct to build community. Living the full spectrum of motherhood, Sarah channels those experiences into a safe online haven that reminds every member they are never alone.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Sarah was shortlisted because she has single-handedly built one of Facebook’s largest, most authentic support networks for mother, growing it organically to 147,000 members. Over the past six years she has expanded the platform into a genuine engine of empowerment: launching a spin-off group where mums can market their own businesses; producing two practical e-books; and designing planners and trackers that tackle everything from debt management to self-care. Every initiative springs from Sarah’s lived experience, deep empathy and commitment to village-style support, proving that digital strategy can do more than connect – it can transform lives and livelihoods for women everywhere.

Alexandra Mercz - Synterra Asia

About:
Alexandra Mercz is a risk and compliance leader, cybersecurity and data privacy strategist, and tireless advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. After steering global programmes at Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, Siemens, Vodafone, and Carlsberg, she founded Synterra Asia, where she now helps organisations execute secure digital transformations. She also offers pro-bono coaching that guides under-represented professionals into senior risk and technology roles, as well as delivering keynotes at CISO Summits and Google events.

Reason for Shortlisting:
The way Alexandra is using her deep cybersecurity, risk-and-compliance expertise as a springboard to transform the industry’s gender balance, earned her a place on the shortlist. She puts her energy into dismantling the message she heard as a girl – “tech isn’t for women.” As co-lead of ISC2’s 50 by 50 initiative, she is engineering pathways that will lift female representation in cyber to 50% by 2050. Her one-to-one mentoring already proves the model: she recently guided a software-developer-turned-protégé into her first security role, who is now mentoring others in turn. Alexandra creates the ripple effects that expand opportunity for women and girls worldwide.

Ikram Guerd - Aspivix

About:
Ikram is a seasoned leader in MedTech and FemTech with over 20 years of experience in large corporations and start-up driving growth and innovation across the US and Europe. Now General Manager at Aspivix Corporation, she leads the charge in raising awareness to transform gynaecological care. Previously, Ikram led global and regional marketing teams at Procter & Gamble, Danaher and multiple health-tech start-ups. Passionate about widening the path for the next generation, Ikram mentors women across the MedTech sector and frequently speaks on innovation, leadership, and the urgent need to fund women’s health research.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Since taking the helm as CMO and US General Manager of Aspivix Corporation in 2023, Ikram has built the company’s California C-Corporation, launched its first US clinical study, and driven a viral TikTok campaign (3.3 million views, 2,000+ comments) that mobilised women to demand the company’s medical device from their clinicians. Her growth strategy won national coverage in The New York Times, Forbes, NBC News, CBS Mornings, and Women’s Health. Beyond the boardroom she mentors more than 100 women, sits on the board of Inspiring Girls USA, and partners with organisations to expand women’s health innovation and leadership.

Virali Patel - 333 Coaching Ltd T/A Her Aura

About:
Virali is a Certified Self-Love Coach, energy healer, and founder of 333 Coaching Ltd and the women’s community Her Aura. While holding a senior role as an R&D Tax Manager, she built her coaching practice from scratch and now guides women worldwide through 1:1 programmes, group cohorts, workshops, and immersive events. A British-Gujarati voice challenging beauty and identity norms, Virali began documenting her self-love journey on Instagram in 2020 and has since grown an engaged audience, plus a private community on CLIQ, WhatsApp, and newsletter.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Virali earned her spot on the shortlist because she turned a personal quest for self-acceptance into a fast-growing, impact-driven movement for other women. She uses candid, unfiltered storytelling on Instagram to challenge South-Asian beauty norms, nurtures an engaged community of 2.7 k followers, and has secured features in Stylist, Teen Breathe, Asiana TV and the New York Post. In July 2024 she formalised that grassroots momentum: launching 333 Coaching Ltd, while still working full-time as a senior R&D tax manager. In less than a year she has guided 30 women through 1-to-1 and group programmes, hosted eight self-love events, and grown her community to 150 members on CLIQ, WhatsApp and email.

Dr. Salmabanu Ismailbhai - University of Bradford

About:
Dr Salmabanu is a civil engineer, researcher and digital sustainability advocate with more than a decade of international experience in concrete technology, the circular economy and digital waste management systems. Beginning her academic journey in India, she has since held post-doctoral posts across the world, and most recently, the UK, where she is a Research Fellow at the University of Bradford. Dr Salmabanu has authored 77 peer-reviewed papers, collected 25 international awards, and is recognised as a Chartered Engineer, Associate Professional Engineer and Valuer. She also serves as chief editor or editorial-board member for six scholarly journals.

Reason for Shortlisting:
Dr Salmabanu has been shortlisted for translating world-class research into tangible climate solutions for the construction industry while championing women in STEM. Her portfolio now includes patents, 77 publications and grants across India, Taiwan, Cyprus, the US and the UK, all focused on AI-driven mix design, digital material tracking and lifecycle analytics that advance the circular economy. Across every role, her purpose is constant: to fuse engineering innovation with digital transformation, accelerate the construction sector’s path to net-zero, and open doors for the next generation of women in STEM.

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