Graz Women's Prize 2025: Honor for equality and commitment

Graz Women's Prize 2025: Honor for equality and commitment

Kasematten am Schlossberg, 8010 Graz, Österreich - On June 3, 2025, the ceremonial awarding of the Graz Women's Prize took place in the idyllic ambience of the casemates on the Schlossberg. This event, organized by women and equality, praised the outstanding contributions of women to equality, justice and social change in Graz. The event was visited by numerous members of urban politics, including Mayor Elke Kahr and Vice Mayor Judith Schwentner, to name just a few. With this award, the city of Graz would like to put the city's and socio-political engagement of the city into the spotlight.

The award went to impressive personalities and initiatives this year. The award winners are:

• Maryam Mohammadi (category: outstanding commitment)
• Heide Cortolezis (category: Lebenswerk)
• Luise Höggerl and Marie Waser (category: project)

A total of 40 projects for the competition were submitted, which shows how lively and committed the Graz women are active in various social areas. The winners receive a total of 6,000 euros, which can be an important incentive for further projects and initiatives. The consistency and diversity of engagement illustrate that women in Graz set important impulses for society and drive changes.

a sign of equality

The awarding of the Graz Women's Prize falls into a larger context of the discussion about gender equality in Europe. International Women's Day 2025 encourages to celebrate the progress in financial independence and social and economic participation of women, while at the same time the existing hurdles must not be forgotten. It is more important than ever to reduce systemic obstacles and offer women equal opportunities. As the [EIB] (https://www.eib.org/de/stories/women- equality-growth-inovation) emphasizes, gender equality is not just a social concern, but a decisive driver for economic growth, innovation and resilience.

In Europe, the proportion of women in management positions is only 34 percent, which shows that there is still a lot to do. The EIB therefore emphasizes that companies with a higher proportion of women at the management level are not only more successful, but also perform better in social and ecological matters. This is precisely this an incentive for companies to work for a balanced gender distribution.

Overall, the Graz Women's Prize is not only an honor, but also a call to everyone to actively work for equality and to give women the tools in order to be successful in society and the economy. Graz thus faces an important task of making the initiatives and successes that were recognized today, too.