The award recognises Hannah’s services to female entrepreneurship and access to finance for women. She is co-chair of the UK’s Invest in Women Taskforce, which has brought together government, financial institutions and the investment community to secure more than £600 million in capital for female-led funds and founders, while challenging the systemic gender bias in the allocation of capital.
The Taskforce’s other co-chair, the entrepreneur Debbie Wosskow, was also awarded a CBE.
Dame Debbie Crosbie, Nationwide’s Chief Executive said: “This is so well deserved. Hannah has helped to transform how the UK investment community views and supports female-led businesses and founders. That will unlock growth across the UK economy that simply would not have happened without Hannah’s passion and the work of her Taskforce team.”
A CBE is one of the UK’s highest honours and this award follows the OBE that Hannah received in 2021 for services to Financial Services during Covid-19.
Hannah said: “This was a lovely surprise and recognises the importance of unlocking the depth of female talent in this country for everyone’s future prosperity.”
Nationwide is one of the Invest in Women Taskforce’s founding partners and provides investment capital, sponsorship and administrative support for its work.
