News Carolyn Sims wins WISE100 Social Investment Champion Award
Charity Bank celebrates the success of its Director of Lending, Carolyn Sims, at this year’s Women in Social Enterprise: WISE100 Awards.
The annual WISE100 list brings together and celebrates 100 of the most inspiring and influential women working in social enterprise, impact investment and mission-driven business. These awards are a testament to the sector and the thousands of charities and social purpose organisations that work within it.
At last night’s awards ceremony, Carolyn Sims, Charity Bank’s Director of Lending, was announced winner of the Social Investment Champion award for her pioneering role in social impact investment.
Since joining Charity Bank in 2005, Carolyn has been responsible for a significant proportion of the more than £400m lent by the bank since its inception. Her passion and dedication to impact investing is shown in her outstanding achievements, not least of which includes her work this year whereby she has personally sourced and/or written 23 charity and social enterprise loan transactions worth more than £20m whilst leading our UK-wide team of regional managers.
Ed Siegel, CEO of Charity Bank said, “While Carolyn is quick to point out that it is a team effort, her recognition is richly deserved. Her knowledge, patience, understanding and commitment has helped hundreds of social purpose organisations. Carolyn embodies what Charity Bank stands for: she passionately cares about the people we work with, the communities we serve and the services we provide.”
“These awards rightly highlight the outstanding achievements of female social business leaders and celebrate diversity within the social sector. On behalf of everyone at Charity Bank, I would like to congratulate all the winners, finalists and nominees for their dedication and commitment to excellence within the sector.”
Carolyn Sims, Director of Lending of Charity Bank said, “I am incredibly grateful to have been recognised amongst the wonderful women at the heart of social enterprise and impact investing. To win the Social Investment Champion Award is an honour and something which I couldn’t have done without the support of my colleagues.”
Additionally, Charity Bank’s Non-Executive Director, Rebecca MacDonald won the highly commended award within the Social Investment Champion category for her work at Big Society Capital and other roles with CFA UK, and Trust for London.
As well, Susan Aktemel, Founder and Executive Director of Charity Bank borrower Homes for Good, won the Social Business Leader of the Year award for her work with the Scottish social enterprise providing homes for people on low incomes throughout Glasgow.
About the WISE100
The WISE100 list is produced annually by Pioneers Post in partnership with NatWest Social and Community Capital to highlight and celebrate the most inspiring and influential women working in impact investment, social enterprise, and mission driven business.
Winners across the four categories: Social Business Leader of the Year, Environmental Champion, Social Investment Champion and Star of the Future were announced at an awards ceremony on the evening of the 7th March 2023 and can be found here: https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20230308/natwest-wise100-2023-six-award-winners-revealed
About Charity Bank
Charity Bank is the loans and savings bank owned by and committed to supporting the social sector. Since 2002, we have used our savers’ money to make more than 1280 loans totalling over £500m to housing, education, social care, community and other social purpose organisations.
Nothing in this article constitutes an invitation to engage in investment activity nor is it advice or a recommendation and professional advice should be taken before any course of action is pursued.
Q&A 
