Rules for Nomination:

Starting Wednesday, September 11, 2024, you will find a nomination form here linked above at MoodyontheMarket.com.

This award recognizes BOLD women of businesses and organizations in the region. Nomination submissions will ask for stories of growth, impact, and change that identify women making a difference in their communities. An independent selection committee, led by a past 40 Under 40 or Bold Women of Business female winners, will review each nomination along with Pat Moody and select the final 20 Bold Women. Sponsors and MoodyontheMarket.com/Mid-West Family (WSJM Inc.) employees or clients do not receive automatic submissions/wins, special consideration, etc. and are judged alongside all other submissions equally by the independent committee.

Eligibility Requirements:

– Nominations close Sunday, September 29, 2024, at 11:59 PM. Nomination window may be extended at the discretion of MoodyontheMarket.com if sufficient numbers of nominations have not been received

– Women being nominated must work or live in the following Southwest Michigan counties: Berrien, Cass and Van Buren

– Nominees must identify as female and be above the age of 16 before September 11, 2024 to qualify. There is no age limit to this award.

– Women nominated may be from all “walks of life,” whether working or retired, volunteering, an entrepreneur or business owner, professional, or working in the non-profit sector, as long as their impact on their community and organization is demonstrated appropriately in the nomination form

– Chosen women are expected to attend the awards presentation in November, or invite someone to accept their award on their behalf

– Selected winners are expected to be available to take a high resolution photo when available, and additionally be available for a short Q&A-style interview for the recognition in a profile here on MoodyontheMarket.com; failure to make time to complete these assets will result in disqualification from the program. Appropriate headshots you may already own will be accepted as well

– Self-nominations ARE permitted for this program, but all entries will be scrutinized for completeness, correctness, and honesty

– Nominations that are not substantially, fully completed, or that simply feature incomplete or cursory information, will be, at minimum, given less than full consideration, or, at worst, be removed from consideration completely

–  One single nomination for your woman of choice is requested. Multiple entries do NOT enhance a person’s chances. Nominations featuring identical responses will be removed; please refrain from repeatedly submitting the same nomination or asking others to do so on your behalf. Only the first nomination received about an individual will be considered

– Only one person is permitted to be featured in each nomination questionnaire. If you wish to submit more than one nominee, you must submit separate nominations for each entry

– It is highly encouraged to submit nominated professionals that are actively engaged in best practices, have outside interests in the community that they are passionate about, and include any information you have on achievements and recognitions they have been honored for elsewhere in the community, in their industry, or among their peer groups as evidence of their own drive for excellence

– Each essay question should be answered in complete sentences. Do not use bulleted or hyphenated lists unless they are appropriate to the question asked

– Women may only win a Bold Women of Business award once within their lifetime so we may allow others in the community to win. Please check the past winners on the Bold Women of Business page before you make your nomination!

– If a nominee has previously been submitted for, or won, the 40 Under 40 award, they will still be eligible to win this award (provided they have not also won a Bold Women of Business award in the past as well, as mentioned above)

– Nominations must be submitted through this online process only and will not be accepted via email, phone, regular mail, in person, or any other format

– Nominated persons will be contacted by the selection committee to verify their willingness to participate

Judging:

– A panel of independent judges will review each nomination submitted and assign a score to each entry. This is done privately, and the judges do not share information. The scores are totaled and compared to all entries submitted to help the selection committee determine the 20 honorees. Outside of one vote on the committee from Pat Moody, the staff of Mid-West Family (WSJM Inc.) and this program’s associated sponsors and advertisers do not have any say or vote in the process. Sponsorship of this program does not guarantee that an organization’s women are automatically considered, or considered with any further weighting to win an award in the judging process. Participants or their workplaces cannot buy an award in our program.

If you are chosen:

You will be notified within two weeks after the entry deadline. All women will be invited as guests to the Bold Women of Business reception in November where they will have two seats reserved in their honor and be presented with their award. In addition, the winners will be recognized in advertising promoting their recognition across Mid-West Family brands on-air, online, and in other advertising forms.

Due to the large amount of submissions to this program, we are unable to contact all entrants about their win or loss status. We will only be able to process winners in the short period of time we have after the adjudicating process is complete to quickly process awards, speeches, and confirmations of attendance at the event. All decisions will be made by mid-October, 2024.