Attention All High-Growth Women Entrepreneurs: EY's Eighth Annual Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ Competition Open for Applications and Nominations

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Mar 10, 2015, 11:14 ET

NEW YORK, March 10, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- EY is looking for exceptional women entrepreneurs with the vision and passion to accelerate the growth of their companies for its 2015 North American Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ Program.

Founded in 2008, the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ Program is a competition and executive leadership program that works to identify a select group of high-potential women entrepreneurs whose businesses show real potential to scale - and then helps them do it. Today, EY is calling on all successful female entrepreneurs to nominate themselves, or like-minded peers, for this elite business network and customized accelerator program. If selected for this year's class of Entrepreneurial Winning Women, the entrepreneurs will join an exclusive group that has collectively grown revenues by 63% since joining the program. This year's call for applications and nominations is now open to both American and Canadian entrepreneurs and runs through June 15, 2015.

"Being a part of the Entrepreneurial Winning Women Program is like joining a secret society of women leaders," said Kathy Cheng, President of Redwood Classics Apparel and a member of the 2014 class of Entrepreneurial Winning Women. "The sharing of support, life lessons and professional guidance has given me a fresh perspective while reaffirming my sense of confidence both personally and within my industry. This is an ecosystem that has inspired me to take many leaps of faith. I'm no longer apologetic about wanting to grow my business. I feel the courage to think big and act bold."

In addition to participation in the year-round program, each winner will receive all-expense paid participation in the EY Strategic Growth Forum® 2015, which takes place November 11-15, 2015 in Palm Springs, California. The Strategic Growth Forum is an invitation-only gathering of 2,000 of the nation's top CEOs, entrepreneurs, advisors, investors and senior business leaders to share insights, make connections and celebrate success. The Forum presents a one-of-a-kind platform for Entrepreneurial Winning Women to introduce their companies and share their stories and goals with a community of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® winners, top executives, prospective investors and business advisors. All Entrepreneurial Winning Women will be recognized at a special celebratory event during the Forum.

The Entrepreneurial Winning Women panel of independent judges — representing successful entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders — will select up to 12 women for the class of 2015. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate qualities needed to take full advantage of the program, including successes to date that exhibit the creativity, tenacity and plan necessary to realize their companies' full potential and the confidence and conviction to drive toward market leadership. In addition, Entrepreneurial Winning Women should have the professionalism and level of business sophistication needed to interact effectively with potential investors, high-level business advisors and top executives.

"Through Entrepreneurial Winning Women, we provide outstanding female entrepreneurs with access to the right information, networks and guidance," said Kerrie MacPherson, Principal, Ernst & Young LLP and North American Entrepreneurial Winning Women Executive Sponsor. "We help these talented women access capital, identify strong business advisors and put the processes in place to radically expand their companies, resulting in increased revenues and jobs."

Eligibility Requirements
To apply for the Entrepreneurial Winning Women program, applicants must fit the following criteria:

Founding woman CEO and majority owner of a privately held US or Canadian company
- For those women who have sought outside investment, the founding woman entrepreneur may still apply if she retains a majority ownership stake of what's left after deducting all outside investments.
Company must have reported at least $2 million in sales in each of the last two years
Venture must be less than 10 years old
Entrepreneurs must be able to attend an orientation and coaching session EY's headquarters in New York City on October 15-16, 2015, as well as the EY Strategic Growth Forum, November 11-15, 2015, in Palm Springs, California.

To apply or nominate a deserving woman entrepreneur, visit: www.ey.com/us/eww. The application deadline is June 15, 2015.

Want to learn more about EY's initiatives for women in business? Women. Fast forward unifies our numerous programs and initiatives designed to advance women, such as Entrepreneurial Winning Women, into one global accelerator so we can employ our collective knowledge, experiences and convening power to push ourselves further and to help accelerate the achievement of global gender parity. Visit Women. Fast forward for our most recent reports, surveys, blogs, webcasts and other resources and check out our recent report, The time for gender parity is now.

Collaborating organizations:
The program is conducted in collaboration with Babson College's Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership, Golden Seeds, the Kauffman Foundation, the National Association of Women Business Owners, The Committee of 200, the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the Women's Business Enterprise National Council and the Women Presidents' Organization.

About EY's Strategic Growth Markets Practice
EY's Strategic Growth Markets (SGM) practice guides leading high-growth companies. Our multi-disciplinary teams of elite professionals provide perspective and advice to help our clients accelerate the path to market leadership. SGM delivers assurance, tax, transactions and advisory services to thousands of companies spanning all industries. EY is the undisputed leader in taking companies public, advising key government agencies on the issues impacting high-growth companies and convening the experts who shape the business climate. For more information, please visit us at www.ey.com/us/strategicgrowthmarkets, or follow news on Twitter @EY_Growth.

About EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization and may refer to one or more of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young LLP, an EY member firm serving clients in the US.

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