The Handshake Award 2026: Selection Criteria & Methodology

The Handshake Award recognizes leaders who are not only powerful, but purposeful. In 2026, the award will honor six women and one male ally whose leadership demonstrates measurable impact, innovation, and influence across business, culture, and society.

Award Structure

The 2026 Handshake Prize will be awarded across seven categories, representing a broad spectrum of influence:

  • Tech Startup Founder

  • Nonprofit or Social Impact Leader

  • Media Executive or Journalist

  • Influencer or Digital Leader

  • Celebrity with Measurable Impact

  • Creator or Creative Entrepreneur

  • Social Activist or Policy Advocate

The six women awardees may come from any of these categories.
The one male ally will be selected based on demonstrated, sustained support for women’s leadership and equity in a professional context.

We intentionally seek diversity in sector, geography, and leadership style. While we welcome nominations of CEOs, we also actively encourage nominations of CFOs, CHROs, COOs, division presidents, and other executives who wield significant operational or cultural power within their organizations, particularly in consequential industries such as AI, technology, media, finance, and climate.

Eligibility & Nomination Requirements

To nominate a candidate for the Handshake Award, submissions must include the following and be sent to hello@concordeapp.com by Wednesday, February 25:

  • Executive’s full name

  • Current title and organization

  • Reporting structure, core responsibilities, and number of employees overseen

  • Country of primary professional base

  • Short professional biography, including corporate boards or influential organizations served

  • Company’s annual revenue and profit (if applicable)

  • Division revenue and income if the nominee leads a specific business unit

  • Specific accomplishments since May 2025

  • Description of the nominee’s broader influence on business or society

  • Description of the nominee’s innovation or industry leadership

  • Description of how the nominee has used professional power to advance employees, communities, or society

Incomplete submissions may not be considered.

Core Selection Criteria

Each nominee is evaluated across six core criteria, with one awardee selected per category based on overall performance relative to peers.

1. Scale of Responsibility

Assesses the size, scope, and complexity of what the nominee leads, including organizational reach, budget responsibility, geographic footprint, and decision-making authority.

2. Business or Organizational Health

Evaluates the performance and sustainability of the organization or initiative under the nominee’s leadership, including growth, stability, resilience, and ethical stewardship.

3. Innovation

Measures how the nominee is solving problems in new ways. This may include technological innovation, novel business models, creative approaches to people management, or meaningful applications of AI and emerging technologies.

4. Influence

Assesses impact beyond the nominee’s organization. Examples include shaping industry standards, influencing policy, authoring influential work, launching initiatives adopted by others, or redefining norms in their field.

5. Career Trajectory

Examines leadership growth, momentum, and trajectory. We consider how responsibility has increased over time and how the nominee’s influence is expanding.

6. Impact

Evaluates how the nominee has used professional power to create positive outcomes for employees, communities, customers, or society at large. This includes equity, access, opportunity, and long-term social value.

Scoring Methodology

The Handshake Award uses an internal weighted scoring system to evaluate nominees within their peer groups.

  • Each of the six criteria is scored individually

  • Nominees are evaluated relative to others in their category, not against a single leadership archetype

  • Both quantitative indicators (revenue, growth, scale) and qualitative indicators (influence, judgment, cultural impact) are considered

  • Final selections are made through a review process that balances data, context, and judgment

This methodology allows us to recognize leaders who may not fit traditional power narratives but who are clearly running the show, shaping outcomes, and moving their industries forward.

What the Handshake Award Represents

The Handshake Award is not about visibility alone. It honors leaders who:

  • Translate influence into action

  • Pair ambition with accountability

  • Use power to open doors, not just protect status

  • Build systems that outlast moments

In a world full of conversations, the Handshake Award celebrates those who deliver outcomes.

cc2
ccapp