Mentor Award

Recipients include:

2011: Hans VestbergCEO, Ericsson AB

The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in New York presented the 6th Annual Mentor Award in connection with their Tenth Annual Swedish-American Executive Women's Conference in Stockholm on October 6, 2011.

2008 year's Mentor Award was awarded to Hans Vestberg, CEO, Ericsson AB, for his  endeavors in promoting women to executive positions within Ericsson.  Mr. Vestberg’s priority and ability to foster diversity in race, culture and gender in Ericsson’s corporate management as well as throughout the company has lead to a strong leadership with a significant increase in diversity within the company.

2010: Jonas BonnierCEO, Bonnier AB

The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in New York presented the 5th Annual Mentor Award in connection with the Ninth Annual Executive Women´s Conference on October 7, 2010, in New York.

2010 year’s Mentor Award was presented to Jonas Bonnier, CEO of Bonnier AB, for being essential in promoting women to executive positions in the Bonnier Group. A strong focus on organizational diversity has pervaded Mr. Bonnier´s leadership values and contributed to the second female editor-in-chief for the Swedish leading morning newspaper Dagens Nyheter, since its launch in 1864. Also the Bonnier owned business journal Veckans Affärer recently selected their first female editor-in-chief.

2009: Börje EkholmPresident & CEO, Investor AB

The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in New York presented the 4th Annual Mentor Award in connection with their Eight Annual Swedish-American Executive Women's Conference in Stockholm on October 1, 2009.

2009 year's Mentor Award was awarded to Börje Ekholm, President & CEO of Investor AB for his endeavors in making Swedish business more gender equal. Studies show that Investor has gone through a transformation to become one of Sweden’s leading companies in gender equality. Mr. Ekholm became President and CEO of Investor in 2005 and the company has ever since shown great initiatives in recruiting women to all levels of the organization. When recruiting new employees, Investor always emphasizes that they are looking for both men and women. Mr. Ekholm is furthermore strongly supporting Investor’s part-owned recruiting company, Novare Management Program, designed for women executives only.

2008: Dr. Percy BarnevikChairman, Hand in Hand International

The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in New York presented the 3rd Annual Mentor Award in connection with their Seventh Annual Swedish-American Executive Women's Conference in New York on November 6, 2008.

2008 year's Mentor Award was awarded to Dr. Percy Barnevik, Chairman of Hand in Hand, for his extraordinary support and encouragement of women entrepreneurship. The Award was presented in the presence of Swedish Minister for Trade, Dr. Ewa Björling during the Annual Swedish-American Executive Women's Conference at Le Parker Meridien on November 6. The concept of Hand in Hand is to utilize microfinance and education to encourage women to start their own businesses. Over 300,000 women in the province of Tamil Nadu have received backing from Hand in Hand. It has generated more than 180,000 companies, which is the equivalent of 500 businesses being created daily. In addition, Dr. Barnevik serves as Director on the Board of General Motors. Dr. Barnevik has previously held the positions of Chairman and CEO at companies such as Sandvik, Skanska, Investor, ABB, AstraZeneca, and DuPont. As a result of Dr. Barnevik's vast experience, he is frequently approached by national governments to provide advice.

2007: Christian W. JanssonPresident & CEO, KappAhl Holding AB

The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce in New York presented the 2nd Annual Mentor Award in connection with their Sixth Annual Swedish-American Executive Women's Conference in Stockholm on October 4, 2007.

2007 year's Mentor Award was awarded to Christian W. Jansson, President & CEO of KappAhl Holding AB since 2002. Prior to joining KappAhl, Mr. Jansson was President of Ellos AB, and he is also a member of several Boards of Directors. Mr. Jansson has always recognized the unique perspective that women bring to business. Throughout his distinguished career in corporations in North America and Sweden, he has actively promoted women and worked for integrated management teams, actions based on his strong belief in the power of diversity. Mr. Jansson was inspired by the U.S. practice of giving greater visibility to women in the workplace. As the President & CEO of KappAhl, a highly successful retail chain of women's clothing, he assures to promote women to key positions both on his management team and on the Board of Directors. A highly regarded Swedish industrialist, Mr. Jansson encourages the appointment of women to board of director positions.