Founder of country’s premier retail brand receives prestigious Stevie Award for Women in Business
Otara Gunewardene, CEO of ODEL, outshone leading female entrepreneurs from around the world to bring honour to her motherland by winning the best entrepreneur award at the seventh US Stevie Awards for Women in Business. The founder of the country’s premier fashion and lifestyle brand received the award for the Best Entrepreneur in the Non Service Business category (up to 2,500 employees), at a gala ceremony held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York recently. Individual achievements of female contenders from Asia, Australia and New Zealand , the UK and the USA were taken into account in deciding the Best Entrepreneur Award “Receiving a Stevie award is a prestigious achievement for women entrepreneurs, as the awards are considered to be among the world’s premier business awards,” a spokesman for ODEL said. “It is a proud achievement for us at Odel and also for sri lanka as a local business leader’s accomplishments have been recognised on a global stage.” Commenting on her achievement, Ms. Gunewardene said: “I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to making the odel dream a reality and I share this award with my team, my family and sri lanka. I hope this achievement will be a source of encouragement and inspiration to all women entrepreneurs.” All women entrepreneurs and executives worldwide, and all women-owned and run organisations worldwide, are eligible to participate in the Stevie awards. The Awards were created to honour and generate public recognition of the achievements and positive contributions of organisations and business people worldwide. The Stevie Awards for Women in Business was inaugurated in 2004 and is governed by a board of distinguished judges and advisors that feature many leading figures in business. These awards are presented in over 50 categories. For more information on the awards, please visit www.stevieawards.com
