Awards for the 2021 TOP Czech Women

The first month of the new year is traditionally associated with the announcement of the TOP Czech Women Awards, whose patroness is Michaela Bakala. This year's 17th edition was again full of inspiring stories behind which were women from the ranks of Czech businesswomen, managers and ladies from the public sector. The expert jury composed of respected personalities from business, academia and public life decided that the title of TOP female entrepreneur goes to Simona Kijonkova, founder of the logistics company Zásilkovna and also co-owner and CEO of Packeta Holding. Katerina Jirasková, CFO of PPF and member of the PPF Management Committee, was named TOP Manager. The first place in the TOP woman of the public sector went to Katarina Vlckova, a doctor and co-founder of the Vlček Family Foundation. This year's ceremony was held in the new premises of the Kunsthalle in Prague's Klárov district. Michaela Bakala, the patroness of the survey, has greeted the award-winning ladies in a video.

"Active and self-confident women are to the benefit of the whole society. For some time now, we have not lived in such a completely normal world in which it was possible to plan and predict much more. This has also put us women in a situation where we have to be even more flexible in both work and family. We face increased demands from all sides. We have to be patient, live and work in a kind of uncertainty, and yet not lose optimism and purpose," said Michaela Bakala in her article “The choice between family and career does not have to be either or", which was published in a special edition of Hospodářské noviny on the occasion of the announcement of the results and whose full text can be read here (available only in Czech). In making the final selection, the expert jury evaluates the nominated ladies according to their influence, performance, business story and social contribution to the companies or institutions they work in, as well as their private activities. The aim of the project is to raise the profile of successful women in the private and public spheres. The stories of successful women are intended to inspire their followers and also to highlight issues such as equal employment opportunities and women in decision-making positions.

TOP Czech Women 2021 - results in individual categories Manager 1. Katerina Jiraskova – CFO of the PPF Group 2. Katarina Kohlmayer - CFO, Board member of KKCG 3. Daniela Peskova – Board member of Česka sporitelna Businesswoman 1. Simona Kijonkova – Founder and owner of Zasilkova 2. Petra Kutnarova - Co-owner of DEK Holding 3. Radka Prokopova – Co-owner and Executive Director of Alca plast Public Sector 1. Katarína Vlčková - Co-founder of the Vlček Family Foundation 2. Eva Zazimalova – President of the Czech Academy of Sciences 3. Danuse Nerudova - Rector of Mendel University in Brno