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Award-winning British-Dutch journalist, writer, social entrepreneur, filmmaker, humanitarian and women’s empowerment advocate Georgina Lara Booth won the 2024 Dianne Bevelander Prize. Booth was particularly recognised for her successful two startups, as stated by the Erasmus Centre for Women and Organisations (ECWO), the organisation the late Prof. Bevelander founded in 2014 as part of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM).

Booth has been active in humanitarian work since her childhood, including establishing her own youth foundation and becoming the first and youngest Humanitarian Youth Ambassador for a Dutch municipality and Peace Ambassador of the Ministry of Peace in the Netherlands.

She has received multiple national and international awards, and she has been active in the film industry since a young age through acting, screenwriting and filmmaking. She won the Shakespearean male role of ‘Hamlet’ in a school play against her male classmates.

Startups promoting gender equality

While studying law at university, Booth became active in journalism and writing in addition to women’s empowerment advocacy, and became an editor covering Entertainment, Tech and Science in addition to becoming the first ever Chief Editor Social Good for the international digital publication Mashable. She has also interviewed many world-renowned public figures – ranging from Hollywood celebrities to entrepreneurs, scientists, astronauts, humanitarians and politicians – on topics concerning women’s rights and empowerment.

Booth created two startups to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the healthcare industry and the legal industry. Femalid, her medical startup, is a female medical hardware startup to promote gender equality in healthcare through equitable medical design. Her legal-tech startup CaseCanvas is an AI-based storytelling solution to empower female victims of domestic and sexual abuse in addition to other crimes that mostly women experience.

“Famous female fellows inspiring inclusion”

Since 2021, Booth has been a UN Women delegate of the United Kingdom for the Commission on the Status of Women, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. For her journalism work, Booth was selected by the editors of the U.S. publication Forbes, the CEO of Financial Times and the Heads of Marketing, Digital and Global Business of TikTok and L’Oréal for the world-renowned “Forbes 30 under 30” list in the Media & Marketing (Europe) category of 2023. In honour of International Women’s Day 2024, the Royal Society of Arts named Booth as the youngest woman on their list of “nine famous female fellows inspiring inclusion” alongside former President of Ireland Mary Robinson, electrical engineer Dame Caroline Haslett and 18th century painter Mary Moser.

Read more about Booth’s achievements.

Committed to continuing Bevelander’s legacy

“We are thrilled to announce Georgina as the winner of a prize that was inaugurated in 2022 to honour the life and work of our founder,” said ECWO’s Executive Director and Dianne Bevelander Prize jury chair, Prof. Hanneke Takkenberg. “Georgina embodies the activist spirit that drove Dianne forward and her work as a women’s empowerment and humanitarian advocate through different initiatives and roles is deeply inspiring and acts as a role-model for others.”

As the winner of the Dianne Bevelander Prize, Booth will be awarded a sum of money to be used for a project – of her choosing – that amplifies gender equality. The prize will be handed over during ECWO’s 2024 conference, which will also celebrate ECWO’s 10-year anniversary and take place on Friday 15 November 2024. Tickets are available here.

About Professor Dianne Bevelander

A true pioneer of gender equality in organisations, in 2011, in her role as Associate Dean for MBA Programmes, Professor Dianne Bevelander established the first all-women leadership elective as part of RSM’s MBA programmes. In 2014 she founded ECWO as a centre of teaching, research, advisory and advocacy, focusing on redressing the gender imbalance in organisations and empowering women to reach their full potential, create communities and drive change in society. Prof. Bevelander died in August 2021 after a nearly three-decade career at RSM.

About ECWO

The Erasmus Centre for Women and Organisations (ECWO) is committed to fostering inclusion. Its founding purpose in 2014 was to empower women and to create a level playing field by building communities for organisational change. A decade later ECWO has expanded its perspective to embrace a wider vision of inclusive prosperity in the world. Its new mission is to create a sense of belonging for everyone within organisations through diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), anchored in social safety. ECWO strives for settings where everyone feels valued, respected and supported. It conducts research and produces evidence-led educational programmes, events, coaching, advocacy and advisory services. ECWO stays true to its roots, and has evolved to recognise that achieving true inclusion and equity requires encompassing all, regardless of gender or identity.

About the Dianne Bevelander Memorial Fund and Prize

Over three decades at RSM, Professor Dianne Bevelander put gender balance, equality and diversity firmly at the top of the agenda – not just in Rotterdam but across the international business and academic community. The Dianne Bevelander Memorial Fund continues the pioneering work of Professor Dianne Bevelander through a fund that supports women and promotes gender equality. Inaugurated in 2022 to honour an individual who has furthered gender equality during the previous year, the first Dianne Bevelander Prize was won by Geke Rosier, the founder of RightBrains, followed by Karen de Sousa Pesse, senior executive at Salesforce, in 2023.

More information

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers. www.rsm.nl

For more information about RSM or this release, please contact Erika Harriford-McLaren, communications manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at harriford@rsm.nl.

 

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