Women of the world gathered in Paris last week to celebrate 32 incredible women (and a few men) being honoured for their works as changemakers. The Cartier’s Women Initiative: Forces For Good Awards was a night to be inspired. All from different countries and working across different sectors – the winners were united by their one singular goal: to make things better for women.
With broadcaster Sandi Toksvig as the host of the evening, human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, dazzling in a head-to-toe sequinned and feathered Julie de Libran’s ensemble, opened the awards ceremony.
Clooney had the whole theatre in tears after a rousing speech citing the cases ‘The Clooney Foundation For Justice’ had been tirelessly fighting for in the past few years. The stories she shared included a moving account of a young Yazidi mother whose daughter was killed by Isis, who with Clooney’s help went on to prosecute her - and her daughters' - torturer.
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Other inspirational speakers who joined the stage included Black-ish lead and past ELLE cover star Yara Shahidi who spoke about how her parents formed her as an activist and how French actor Melanie Laurent championed the vitality of sustainable thinking.
But the real highlight of the night was the 32 inspiring winners. Each one took to the stage to tell the audience how they were game changing and fighting for women. The heroic honourees ranged from Iva Gumnishka from Bulgaria, who had designed an employment scheme, Humans in the Loop, for displaced refugees, to Siny Samba, who is producing nutrient rich baby-food for the mothers of Senegal, and Mariam Torosyan from Safe You, who has designed an app to eliminate gender-based violence.
It was truly a night to be inspired.
During Lena's tenure at ELLE, she has been building the brand’s cultural content and special projects including benchmark events; ELLE Weekender, The ELLE List and The ELLE Style Awards. During her time at the magazine, she’s commissioned essays from Zadie Smith, interviewed everyone from Miley Cyrus to Jodie Comer and made viral videos like ‘More Women’ that shone a light on gender inequality and was seen by millions. As an editor, Lena specialises in travel, music, arts, film and all culture and is an active BAFTA member having sat on a jury for many years. She has written for numerous titles including The Guardian, Vogue and The New York Times.
