Announcing Our Q2 2026 FBW Awards Winners
We are proud to announce the winners of the Q2 2026 FBW Quarterly Awards. This quarter's cohort spans public relations, financial planning, leadership coaching, and workplace equity consulting, brought together by founders who built their practices around clarity, access, and measurable client impact.
Alongside the founders who submitted applications this quarter, our team also expanded the search through independent research to spotlight additional small businesses and founders in the US and UK whose public work stood out. Congratulations to all of this quarter's honorees.
Q3 2026 applications are now open. Apply today: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/
Individual Leader Award Winners
👑 Strategic Leadership Excellence
Diana Lowe, Founder & CEO, Blue Light Leadership
Diana founded Blue Light Leadership as an executive coaching and leadership development practice focused on a problem many organizations avoid: high performing leaders whose behavior quietly damages morale and retention. Drawing on positive psychology, emotional intelligence, and behavioral science, she built programs that help companies address leadership behavior without losing valuable talent. She grew the business from a solo coaching practice into a firm serving mid-sized organizations across technology, engineering, finance, healthcare, and construction, became a Forbes Coaching Council contributor, and published the Amazon bestselling book Hard to Handle along with its companion workbook.
Prudence Zhu, Founder, Enso Financial
Prudence is a fee-only financial planner serving couples and women navigating major life transitions nationwide. Her path from rural China to a career spanning private equity and corporate finance shapes her focus on accessible, human-centered financial planning, particularly for cross-cultural couples and immigrant families. She authored A Couple's Guide to Money: Grow Closer, Dream Bigger, Thrive Together and was named to NAPFA's 2026 Women to Know, an annual recognition of female financial advisors nominated by peers for their professional impact.
📣 Marketing & Brand Leadership
Filomena Fanelli, Founder & CEO, Impact PR & Communications Ltd.
Filomena built Impact PR & Communications into an award-winning strategic public relations firm with a national client roster and a tri-state presence in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, serving community banks and credit unions, real estate companies, and hospitality and nonprofit organizations. The firm was named the SBA's Women-Owned Small Business of the Year in 2024, and Filomena was named to PRNEWS' 2026 Top Women in PR & Communications Business Entrepreneurs list.
💼 Consulting & Advisory Leadership
Kate Rainford-Foakes, Founder, Kate Rainford-Coaching
Kate founded her coaching practice to help women navigate leadership and career transitions, addressing barriers like limited time, support, and confidence that keep many women from stepping into bigger roles. She was named to Small Business Britain's 2026 f:Entrepreneur #IAlso100, a campaign recognizing 100 of the UK's most inspiring female entrepreneurs.
Company Award Winners
📣 Marketing & Communications Impact
Melinda Jackson Public Relations: Melinda Jackson — Raleigh, NC | Founded 2018
Melinda built MJPR around a simple bet against the traditional agency model: keep a tight roster of paid client campaigns while publishing the PR playbook for free to founders who cannot yet afford an agency. Her Unhinged Founder podcast and Substack, together with the Raleigh Female Founder Happy Hour community she grew from zero to 850 plus members in a year, extend that access. MJPR has secured national placements in Forbes, Good Morning America, The Hollywood Reporter, and Deadline, and Melinda has led PR on both a Grammy winning and an Emmy winning campaign.
💼 Consulting & Advisory Excellence
Rachel Dunford Consulting Ltd (The Impact Specialist): Rachel Dunford — United Kingdom
Rachel built her consulting practice around helping women share the impact of their own work, a focus that earned her a Gold Winner title in Business Services at the 2025 Best Businesswomen Awards and a finalist place at the 2026 Enterprise Vision Awards, the UK's largest celebration of women in business.
🌍 Social Impact
Wcorp Ltd: Geeta Sidhu-Robb — London, UK | Founded 2024
Geeta founded Wcorp to help organizations build safer, more inclusive workplace cultures for women, working at board and investor level to drive systemic accountability alongside mentoring women leaders directly. She was named to Small Business Britain's 2026 f:Entrepreneur #IAlso100 for her contribution to workplace equity.
What This Quarter's Class Represents
The Q2 2026 winners reflect founders building access into industries that have traditionally gated it behind cost or credentials. Taken together, they represent:
PR and media access redesigned around transparency instead of retainer size (Melinda Jackson, Filomena Fanelli)
Financial and leadership guidance built for people navigating major life or career transitions (Prudence Zhu, Diana Lowe, Kate Rainford-Foakes)
Consulting and advisory work that turns individual impact and workplace culture into measurable business outcomes (Rachel Dunford, Geeta Sidhu-Robb)
Winner Benefits Include:
- 📰 Featured Profile — In-depth article on FoundedByWomen.org
- 📱 Multi-Platform Promotion — Social media and newsletter features
- 🏆 Winner Assets — Digital badge and certificate for marketing materials
- 🤝 Network Access — Connection with other recognized leaders
- 📊 Quarterly Showcase — Featured in the Q1 2026 winners report
Q3 2026 applications are now open. Apply today: https://www.foundedbywomen.org/awards/
