PHOTO GALLERY: Celebrating 10 Years of TWIC
CHICAGO — The Convenience Store News Top Women in Convenience (TWIC) awards program celebrates its 10th anniversary this year — a decade of spotlighting the achievements of established and emerging female leaders advancing the convenience retail channel.
TWIC is the first and still only c-store industry program that highlights the integral role women play in convenience retailing and honors individuals across retailer, distributor and supplier businesses for outstanding contributions to their companies and the industry at large.
CSNews launched TWIC in 2014 with 30 honorees. The inaugural class included 15 senior-level executives, eight rising stars and two store managers, along with five leaders selected as Women of the Year. They were recognized at a simple breakfast event held at the Las Vegas Convention Center at 7 a.m. Less than 100 people were in attendance.
This year, roughly 300 TWIC nominations were received from across the industry's retailer, distributor and supplier communities. The judging process was tough as the nominations were simply outstanding. After much deliberation, the judges decided on 86 winners.
The 2023 TWIC class is comprised of 39 Senior-Level Leaders, 35 Rising Stars, seven Mentors and five Women of the Year. They will be honored the evening of Oct. 4 at an awards gala and party at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center. A sold-out crowd of more than 400 is expected.
This 10th class of Top Women in Convenience will bring the total number of female leaders recognized to date to 591. These women have been lauded for innovative corporate initiatives, extraordinary financial and strategic accomplishments, astute problem-solving acumen, exceptional performance, mentorship work, selfless charitable participation, and other attributes that go above and beyond the call of duty.
Here, we look back on and celebrate 10 years of TWIC.
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In 2014, the inaugural class of Top Women in Convenience was recognized at a simple breakfast event attended by less than 100 people. -
The second-annual TWIC event in 2015 recognized 58 honorees — almost double the number of award winners as the first year. -
Marcia Clark, lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson “Trial of the Century,” served as the first-ever keynote speaker for a TWIC event in 2017. -
Paralympian Melissa Stockwell, the first American female soldier to lose a limb in Iraq, shared her story of tragedy to triumph as the 2018 keynote speaker. -
Wellness expert Angela Buttimer, the 2019 keynote speaker, took attendees through a few mindful practices to help them find calm. -
The five Women of the Year honored in 2019 were JoAnn Saverino, Rebecca Troutman, Jayne Rice, Sarah Bibbs and Deb Hall Lefevre. -
Despite the COVID-19 global pandemic, the 2020 Top Women in Convenience event still went on, but was held as a Virtual Watch Party. -
The 2022 awards gala was a record-breaking event, celebrating a record number of honorees and drawing a record number of attendees. -
Each year, the Alimentation Couche-Tard team turns out in force to celebrate their winning colleagues. -
To date, the Top Women in Convenience program has honored 591 outstanding female leaders.
Supporters of the 2023 Top Women in Convenience program include: founding and presenting sponsor Altria Group Distribution Co.; platinum sponsors ITG Brands, PepsiCo Inc. and Reynolds Marketing Services Co.; gold sponsors BIC USA Inc., The Boston Beer Co., The Coca-Cola Co., Core-Mark International, Juul Labs, Mars Wrigley, McLane Co. Inc., Mondelēz International, The Proctor & Gamble Co., Swedish Match North America, and Tyson Convenience; silver sponsors Anheuser-Busch InBev, BeatBox Beverages, Constellation Brands, Glanbia Performance Nutrition, PDI Technologies Inc. and Premier Manufacturing Inc.; bronze sponsor Zebra Technologies Corp., and Corporate Empowerment Award sponsor The Hershey Co.