Dear Friends,
2020 has been hard. Our collective communities have experienced so much pain and adversity, that it feels unthinkable to celebrate. But I was born to a family that experienced compounded, multi-generational tragedy, and learned to celebrate anyway. I’ve learned that the hardest moments in life are precisely when celebration is most needed. Because finding the good leads us back to the light.
In late 2017, when the Female Founders Alliance was little more than a Facebook group, I got so tired of chatter about bad investor behavior that I decided to put on an award show just to find and celebrate the good folks. That’s how the Champion Awards were born. I invited women across the Seattle tech scene to nominate and vote for the people and organizations that helped them succeed. I hosted the first gala in February 2018, a sold-out, unforgettable night for everyone in attendance. The second time around, in April 2019, was even more spectacular.
It is with great pride and excitement that we announce the 2020 Champion Awards, to be held on August 20th, 2020. Nominations across all categories are now open. We invite you to nominate yourself, nominate others, and spread the word far and wide. Every single nominee will get recognized, and trust me when I say that this act of recognition is deeply meaningful to every single recipient. All it takes is filling out a form.
In addition to the unprecedented level of use of the word unprecedented, there’s a couple more big changes this year. First, the gala will be virtual, as we don’t yet know if it will be possible to gather in person. You can join us from anywhere in the world, in fancy dress or pajamas. We’ve created attendee options that range from “just watch”, to a multi-sensory experience where you mingle with honorees and get a “party in a box” delivered to your home. The latter has limited capacity, so do book yours soon.
Second, in past years the Champion Awards were geographically limited to Seattle and surrounding areas, simply because that’s where our community was born. But in the past 12 months we’ve grown nationally, and these days, geography matters very little anyway. As a result, we welcome nominations from anywhere you are. We also added an award category for Hometown Heroes in every hub where the Female Founders Alliance has a core community.
And finally, these past few months we’ve witnessed more real-life superheroes than ever in my lifetime – medical professionals, teachers, parents, students, scientists, delivery men and women, young people, and yes, even some politicians. That’s why we added a special category this year, non-gender related, for the Unsung Champions around you. You can nominate anyone. Let’s show gratitude together.
I hope to see you all on August 20th. And I can’t wait to read about all your nominees.
With Gratitude,
Leslie Feinzaig
Founder & CEO, FFA
