On Monday 23rd June, MWOTY 2025 kicked off with its annual finalist’s evening at Fazenda Liverpool.
Finalists’ evening is a special event each year, when all of our fabulous women who have been shortlisted from hundreds of nominations get the chance to meet one another in person – ahead of the big day – along with organisers and sponsors.
This year’s event was as gorgeous as ever, with the room buzzing with excitement, conversation and collaboration. Event host, Catarina Pereira, from Fazenda welcomed finalists, sponsors and supporters for the third consecutive year, and highlighted how important MWOTY was to her and her team, reminding finalists that “If you are in this room now, you are already a winner.”
Moira O’Shaughnessy, from headline sponsor FPC spoke next, congratulating finalists and sharing FPC’s journey as MWOTY headline sponsor, before Rae Brooke from the Community Foundation for Merseyside spoke about its partnership with MWOTY and the work of the Women’s Fund.
MWOTY Founding Director, Ellie Kerr, then provided each finalist with a red, hand-gemmed lanyard (stuck on with love, in Ellie’s words) that will identify them on awards day and an important document about what was to come on Friday, which finalists were encouraged to “eat, drink and internally digest”.
After congratulating the finalists Ellie advised them to “buckle up” and prepare for the next 12 months. She said: “MWOTY isn’t just a moment on Friday, it’s more than that, it’s a movement and there is no guessing what the next year will hold and what will emerge from the people gathered in this room, so buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy, fun ride.”
Guests then enjoyed drinks and delicious canapes served by the fantastic Fazenda team as they mixed and mingled with MWOTY team and sponsors.
Thank you to Fazenda for hosting us and congratulations again to all finalists – we can’t wait for Friday!
