If you know a woman in the industry deserving of this kind of recognition, please don’t hesitate to nominate her.
July, 2007 -The Outdoor Industries Women‘s Coalition (OIWC) is accepting nominations for the Bicycle Industry Pioneering Woman Award. This award honors women within the bicycle market who have furthered the vision of the OIWC by demonstrating an outstanding commitment to mentoring female colleagues. Nominations will be accepted online until August 9, 2007. Award recipients will be announced at the OIWC‘s annual event at Interbike.
OIWC introduced the Pioneering Woman Award to the outdoor industry in 2002. Previous winners for the outdoor industry include Carolyn Cooke, Kim Coupounas, Ann Krcik, Norma Hansen, Rachel Ligtenberg, and Kitty Bradley. Donna Carpenter received the first award in the snowsports industry in 2006. Ashley Korenblat, owner and proprietor of Western Spirit Cycling, received the first in the bicycle industry, also in 2006.
The winner of this year‘s Bicycle Industry Pioneering Woman Award will be announced at Interbike on September 27, 2007 at The Gathering, an OIWC event. This recipient will receive $1,000 to be donated to a charity of her choice in her name. Previous nominees may be nominated again. The OIWC requests that the winner be present to accept her award and ask that nominators take this request into consideration when submitting their nominee.
As a compliment to the Pioneering Woman award, the OIWC recently created the First Ascent Award and is introducing it in the bicycle industry for the first time during Interbike. This award recognizes a woman new to the industry who demonstrates strong potential for leadership. This award furthers the vision of OIWC by increasing visibility of talented young women at lower levels in an organization, thereby facilitating and nurturing their leadership skills.
The winner of the First Ascent Award receives a scholarship and airfare for a leadership training program. The recipient is responsible for food and accommodations.
The inaugural First Ascent Award for the Outdoor Industry was won in 2005 by Jennifer Wittman of Outside Magazine. Jordan Jiskra of Burton Snowboards won in 2006.
The deadline to submit nominations for both awards is August 9, 2007. Nominations can be submitted online at www.oiwc.org.
OIWC is a non-profit corporation focused on the mission of equipping women to achieve their success. OIWC is sponsored at the Gold Plus level by EMS, Fox River, REI, and W.L. Gore & Associates. At the Gold level, sponsors are Jansport, Mountain Hardwear, Yakima, CGPR, and Womenspecific.com. Silver sponsors are Backpacker Magazine, Burton, GearTrends/SNEWS, Giant Bicycle, Hi-Tec, Interbike, Marmot, Outdoor Industry Association, Outdoor Retailer, Outdoor Wares, Timberland, Tubbs Snowshoes, and SIA. Bronze sponsors are Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, Black Diamond, Camelbak, Cascade Designs, Chaco, Columbia, Contourwear, Filson, Fuji Bicycles, GoLite, Guyot Designs, Kokatat, Manzella, The North Face, Nuun Active Hydration, Osprey Packs, OutdoorMind, Outdoor Research, Primaloft, Quality Bicycle Products, Schoeller Textil, Shimano, Sierra Magazine, Specialized, Thule, and Turtle Fur Group. Friends of OIWC include Chaos, Kiss My Face, EarMitts, Wallaroo Hat Company, Trade Association of Paddlesports.
Submit your nomination at OIWC.org