L-R: Tara, Tej, Tarun
The 21st Century Icon Awards celebrated seven years of recognising individual excellence from across the globe and announced the 14 winners. The prestigious annual gala dinner took place at The Biltmore Mayfair, London on Friday 19th May 2023 and was hosted by Nitin Ganatra Actor.
The 21st Century Icon Awards were launched in 2017 by Co-Founders Tarun Ghulati, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer and Preeti Rana, Chief Business Officer, Chief Creative Officer at Squared Watermelon Ltd. Ghulati and Rana use the awards to Celebrate Success of the Next Generation. They draw attention to the work of exceptional entrepreneurs, philanthropists, tech pros, media personalities and more, to provide them with esteemed recognition on a global stage. As well as a platform to build out a network of the next generation of leaders that are making positive strides in their field. The focus is on the endeavours and achievements of young people developing sustainable and transformative solutions to impact their future.
The 21st Century Icon Awards Founders Tarun Ghulati and Preeti Rana said, “21st Century Icon award Founders Tarun Ghulati and Preeti Rana said “We are absolutely delighted to celebrate and recognise these outstanding global icons. We created these awards to showcase the young leaders who through their tenacity, grit and hard work have become the beacons of change, inspiring others and are on the front seat of innovation. We are extremely grateful for the unwavering support, guidance and support from our Panel of Judges which helps bring our vision of recognising excellence to reality each year”
Sri Prakash Lohia, Indian born Indonesian billionaire businessman, and the Founder and Chairman of Indorama Corporation was the Chief Guest. His Excellency Sarafa Tunji Isola, High Commissioner of Nigeria was the Guest of Honour.
Simon Geda enthralled the guests with his alto saxophone performing some jazz tunes at the drinks reception.
Renowned mezzo soprano Friederike Krum opened the awards singing the National Anthem which she performed on Coronation Day on national TV.
Violinist Orpheus Leander Papafilippou and trombonist Richard Cross excited and entertained the audience with virtuoso Gipsy showpieces; Monti Czardas and Dinicu Hora Staccato. Richard performed glorious fanfares on his trombone for each winner.
Mezzo soprano Rozanna Madylus walked between the tables singing Habanera from Carmen as she greeted the winners creating a magical end to the evening. Orpheus, Richard and Rozanna all hail from the Royal Academy of Music.
Around 200 business leaders, celebrities, royalty, socialites, film stars, sports champions, thought leaders and politicians all gathered to witness the glittering, scintillating and exhilarating Awards ceremony. The Awards symbolise and embody true success and have been acclaimed internationally. The ballroom was awe inspiring with large imposing screens all part of an immaculate stage and set, the atmosphere electric and the awards were orchestrated with flair and elegance.
The 14 winners were whittled down from 45 finalists and close to 600 submissions from the following regions: South America, Africa, Europe, Indian Sub-Continent, North America, Middle East and Asia. The esteemed judges of this year’s awards include:
Ibukun Adebayo, Group Director, Sustainable Finance and Investment Strategy, London Stock Exchange Group
Stephen Ball, Board of Trustees Queen’s Commonwealth Trust and Asia House
Patti Boulaye OBE, Singer, Actress, Broadcaster, Author
Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE, DL Member of the House of Lords
Vincent Keaveny, Lord Mayor of the City of London 2021/22
Dr David Landsman OBE. Chairman and Adviser, Former British Ambassador and Former Executive Director (MD) Tata Limited
Dame Denise Lewis OBE, British Olympic Champion, President Commonwealth Games England
Nick Ogden, Founder and Chairman, Clearbank
Tessy Ojo, CBE, Chief Executive Officer, The Diana Award
Lord Purvis, Member of the House of Lords
David Sayer, Former Vice Chair, KPMG
Rt Hon. Baroness Verma, Member of the House of Lords
Hugo van Vredenburch, Former Chairman of Interactive Investor, Former Partner and Managing Director Goldman Sachs
The winners list in full below:-
Inspirational Icon Award
Dr Pablo Borboroglu (Argentina) is the Founder and President of the Global Penguin Society, dedicated to and leading the conservation of the world’s Penguin species, the coasts and oceans they inhabit. Dr Pablo has spent over 32 years fighting for and protecting penguins. His actions have had positive impact in 22 countries, protected 32 million of acres of penguin habitat and reached millions of children globally through the education and awareness work.
The Trophy was handed by Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE, DL Member of the House of Lords
Outstanding Media & Entertainment Award
Kate Silverton (UK) is renowned broadcaster, presenter and newsreader for the BBC and in the media world. In 2018, Kate participated in series 16 of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and finished in 8th place. She is currently training to be a children’s counsellor. Her first book ‘There’s No Such Thing As ‘Naughty’: The ground-breaking guide for parents with children aged 0-5 is a bestseller. She is currently working on her second book.
The trophy was handed over by Tarun Ghulati and Preeti Rana.
Specialist Professional Award
Ravi Kumar S (USA, India) is the CEO of Cognizant, an American multinational information technology services and consulting company. Cognizant, part of the NASDAQ-100, reported total revenues of $19.4 billion and ranked #194 in 2022 Fortune 500 ranking.
Ravi Kumar S leads over 355,000 colleagues globally. Ravi sits on the Board of Governors for the international Tennis Hall of Home and is Member Board of Directors US Chamber of Commerce.
The trophy was handed over by Bill Michael, Strategic Advisor and former UK Chair and Senior Partner KPMG.
Savvy Luxury Award:
Dr Tara Lalvani Founded Beautifect a beauty brand in 2017. Beautifect’s innovative products make women’s daily beauty routines easier and more enjoyable. The Beautifact Box allows make up anytime and anywhere and make up adjustment to suit destination.
The brand is top seller on Beautifect’s website and available in some of the world’s leading luxury retailers, including Harrods, Fenwick, and Sephora. Customers include Kathy Hilton, Bethenny Frankel, Tess Daly and Bobbi Brown.
The trophy was handed over by Vincent Keaveny, Lord Mayor of the City of London 2021/22
Squared Watermelon Award
Mihaela Padure (Romania, UK) is a Solicitor practising since 2002. She set up the very successful Forest & Co Solicitors in 2018 with offices London, Birmingham, Manchester and Slough. By year end, the firm will open offices in Dubai, Monaco and Bucharest.
The trophy was handed over by Vincent Keaveny, Lord Mayor of the City of London 2021/22.
Innovator Technology Award
Mansoor Hamayun (Pakistan)
Christopher Baker-Brian (UK)
Laurent Van Houcke (Rwanda)
Bboxx’s 3 co-founders met as students at Imperial College London studying Electrical Engineering. Bboxx is a super platform providing access to essential products and services across Africa like clean energy, clean cooking, smartphones, e-mobility and selected financial products,
Bboxx is positively impacting the lives of more than 3.5 million people in 10 operating markets (Kenya, Rwanda, the DRC, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Mali). Bboxx is one of the largest networks in Africa, with over 4,000 staff across Africa and offices in the UK and Asia.
The trophy was handed over by Tej Lalvani, CEO of Vitabiotics and Dragon on BBC’s Dragons” Den (2017-2021)
Relentlessly Resolute Award
Ashok Duppati and Dheeraj Siripurapu (UK, India) have founded several market beating substantial businesses over the last 20 years. These include: BluPace Technologies offering innovative software solutions and digital transformation services, Cakes & Bakes which has 11 stores in London with plans finalised to open 100 stores by 2025 across the UK. Their Wow Party Wholesale provides high-quality party supplies to businesses across the UK. They have opened 3 Hyderabad Wala restaurants and are expanding to 25 stores by 2025. Plans to open internationally are also currently underway. Another entity, Ecojoules provides renewable energy solutions to homeowners and companies since 2008.
The trophy was handed over by Andrew Rosindell, Member of Parliament for the Romford Constituency in Greater London since 2001. He has also been the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs.
Ardent Techie Award
Scott Steinberg (USA) is a world-renowned futurist and award-winning trend spotter for 1500+ brands. He is a bestselling author of 30 books. Creator of ground-breaking training and development game The Future is Yours: The Game Where You Create Your Future. Scott is Fortune magazine’s Master of Innovation. Named by Consulting magazine’s Top 25 Consultants list for Excellence in Leadership and recognized as a Top 50 Global Thought Leader and Influencer.
Ibukun Adebayo, Group Director, Sustainable Finance and Investment Strategy, London Stock Exchange Group
Squared Watermelon Award
Shamir Jiwa (UK) is the Founder and CEO, Maximeyes Group which runs several 13 entities. Most of the companies focus on the energy sector with specific focus on Greentech and Cleantech. His company is one of the top 30 energy consultants (volume wise) in the UK out of a landscape of over 3000.
The Trophy was handed over by Fleur Butler an English Conservative politician and novelist. She is President of the National Conservative Convention and a past Chairman of the Conservative Women’s Organisation.
Generous Philanthropist Award
Daniel Korski (UK, Germany) is CEO and Co-Founder of PUBLIC, a leading European technology firm.
PUBLIC is a ‘policy-to-product’ business. Daniel was most recently Deputy Head of Policy at No.10 Downing Street and Special Advisor to the UK Prime Minister.
His philanthropic efforts are widespread. He founded the Welcoming Committee for Honkongers fleeing from Chinese persecution to settle into the UK. He also founded Unlock Digital, to help young Londoners gain digital skills; their digital skills map is the only map charting all digital training offerings in London. Finally, he co -founded Forgotten Exodus, a project to collect the testimonies of Jews who were forced to flee Poland in the 1960s. He also serves on the board of the Jewish Museum.
The trophy was handed over by Jacqui Agyepong who represented Great Britain at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics, as well as two outdoor and two indoor World Championships. In addition, she won the silver medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games.
Competitive Sports Award
C A Bhavani Devi (India) is the first woman in India to qualify and compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games. In 2017 Bhavani Devi became the first-ever Indian fencer to win a Gold Medal at a Satellite Grade tournament.
In 2018 C A Bhavani Devi finished 36th Ranked in the World and made history by becoming the first Indian to win consecutive Gold Medals. She won the first Gold Medal for fencing in the Commonwealth Championship in 2018 by breaking the fencing record of 44-years. In 2019 she bettered her world championship performance by finishing 16th that year. Recently she won her 10th Senior National Champion Title.
The trophy was handed over by Baroness Grey-Thompson DBE, DL Member of the House of Lords.
Exquisite Art and Fashion Award
Xiwen Zhang-Makridis and Yannis Makridis (China, Greece, UK) In 2016 by Xiwen and Yannis Founded For Art’s Sake which has become one of the biggest eyewear brands, It is stocked by coveted boutiques and premium opticians. Their eyewear is worn by Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Chrissy Teigen, Lily Collins. Beyonce, J Lo, Chrissy Teigen, Halle Berry, Gabrielle Union, Kristen Bell. More than 3000 retail outlets in 65+ countries Stock their products. They also have standalone stores in London and Shanghai. Xiwen Zhang-Makridis was placed on Forbes 30 under 30 recognised for her innovative approach to eyewear design.
The Trophy was handed over jointly by Pam Gosal and Natasha Asghar. Pam Gosal is Member of Scottish Parliament. She is the Shadow Minister for Further and Higher Education, Youth Employment and Training, Pam is also the first woman of Indian descent and practicing Sikh to serve as an elected member of Scottish Parliament.
Natasha Asghar is Member of the Welsh Parliament South Wales East. She is the Welsh Conservative’s Shadow Minister for Transport and Technology. Natasha is the first woman of colour elected to the Senedd
Astute Finance and Investments Award
Zain Latif (UK) is the Founder of TLG Capital, which focuses on frontier markets in Africa. Prior to this, Zain Latif was at Goldman Sachs.
TLG has executed 35 investments across the Africa region with 20+ exits. TLG has successfully reached 1st close of the local currency fund in Tunisia anchored 40% by the Tunisian government.
In December 2022, TLG Capital along with Norsad Capital has launched a USD 400m African Credit Platform from Botswana.
The trophy was handed over by Tom Tyler, MD Akinn Group, Former Head of Americas, Private Markets, London Stock Exchange Group and Former Judge 21st Century Icon Awards.
Sustainability Rising Star Award
Navjot Sawhney (UK) Founded The Washing Machine Project which provides displaced and low income communities with an accessible, off-grid washing solution by empowering women to take charge of their lives. Their particular focus is on reaching, refugees, displaced people, homeless and low-income families.
Since its creation in 2021, they have positively impacted the lives of over 30,000 people. From refugees in Iraq, Lebanon and Poland to, children in Uganda, homeless people on the streets of Fort Worth Texas, and disabled people in Kiribati. Sustainability is a critical factor since the project works in areas by climate change like the Middle East and Africa where water is scarce.
The trophy was handed over by Ibukun Adebayo, Group Director, Sustainable Finance and Investment Strategy, London Stock Exchange Group.
Darek Redmond, who made history in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics handed over the finalists trophies.
As always, the 21st Century Icon Awards Gala Dinner exceeded expectations and reaffirmed its status as the only stage where global icons vye with each other to win the most coveted awards.
