Bernadette Wijnings (co-CEO Blanco) is nominated for the Emerging EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2021
On 7 July, the list of nominees for the Dutch EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2021 was released. This award puts successful entrepreneurs in the spotlight and Bernadette Wijnings (co-CEO Blanco) has been nominated for the award in the Emerging category.
EY Entrepreneur of the Year Program
The EY Entrepreneur of the Year program has celebrated worldwide entrepreneurship for 25 years now. It puts innovative entrepreneurship on a pedestal and encourages entrepreneurs to get the best out of themselves, their clients and their employees.
The Entrepreneur of the Year Award has two categories: Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) and Emerging. The EOY category is for market leaders, established entrepreneurs who have really made a difference and are still at the helm. The Emerging category is for entrepreneurs with companies under ten years-old, whose founders promise to become top entrepreneurs.
All of the nominees were selected by EY as entrepreneurs who stand out for their vision, energy and innovative capacity. In doing so, they are an example and an inspiration to their peers. An expert jury will assess the nominees on 8 September, with the winners announced in the finals on 13 October. The candidates will be judged on matters such as personal integrity, vision, passion, entrepreneurship, strategic direction, innovation, value creation and financial performance. Besides this, the judges will also consider softer values such as corporate responsibility, sustainable growth and contribution to society.
An entrepreneur at heart
In response to the news of her nomination, Bernadette remarks: “I am very honoured to be nominated and especially happy to become part of this inspiring group of fellow entrepreneurs.”
Bernadette Wijnings is an entrepreneur at heart who has been scribbling down potential business ideas in a notebook since she was 18. Entrepreneurship is her passion and her life. She has already founded several companies, some of which were more successful than others. Over the years, she has dealt with setbacks and challenges with an unfailingly resilient and positive attitude, which has helped her to get to where she is today. In 2015, Bernadette founded Blanco together with Joost Walgemoed to provide a technological and invisible solution for asset managers. Blanco is now a market leader in the Netherlands with 140 clients in 6 countries and almost 100 percent client retention.
In order to create the ideal company to work for, Bernadette has built Blanco on three pillars: agile, determined and inclusive. Bernadette’s personal mission in entrepreneurship is for diversity and inclusivity, and she aspires to become a role model for (future) female tech entrepreneurs.
