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As we prepare for the City A.M. Dragon Awards ceremony on Monday 18th November, we are excited to introduce our panel of judges who will bring their experience and insights to the process of identifying and recognising excellence in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
As with all City A.M. awards, we work to ensure a fair, independent, transparent and rigorous judging process. As part of this commitment we’ve brought together industry experts with a deep understanding of the ESG landscape and the evolving dynamics of ESG’s impact and influence.
Our judges will play a critical role in the City A.M. Dragon Awards process.
Domain Knowledge and Expertise: Each judge uses their domain knowledge and expertise to evaluate finalists within their assigned categories. This ensures that the evaluation process is both comprehensive and rigorous.
Understanding the Framework: Judges thoroughly review all category definitions and criteria provided to them, ensuring a deep understanding of the framework within which finalists will be assessed.
Individual Evaluation: Finalists are evaluated individually by judges based on the specific category definitions and criteria. This ensures that each nomination is assessed fairly and on its own merit.
Rating Process: Judges follow a structured rating and evaluation process, ensuring consistency and integrity throughout their deliberations.
Timely Results: Judges are committed to providing their results within the specified dates and deadlines of the competition, ensuring a smooth and efficient judging process.
Deliberation: Judges actively participate in a deliberation process for the categories they are responsible for, promoting thoughtful discussion and ensuring that only the most deserving initiatives are recognised.
Meet the judges:
Christian May, Editor-in-Chief, City A.M.
Editor of City A.M. from 2015 to 2021 before resuming the role in 2024, Christian has played a key role in solidifying the publication’s position as a leading voice in London’s financial and business communities. Known for his sharp insights, he ensured City A.M. remained relevant and influential, delivering high-quality journalism during a time of significant change for the country and the media sector. With experience in communications and corporate affairs as well as journalism, Christian is well-placed to recognise effective leadership in ESG.
Mark Jones , Chief Sustainability Officer, THG
“Mark Jones is the Chief Sustainability Officer of THG and has been in his position since June 2023. He is responsible for building THG’s overall sustainability strategy, THG x Planet Earth, to drive the implementation across the business to tackle carbon, biodiversity, circular economy, ESG regulations, and social responsibility. Mark also oversees the business sustainability consultancy service – THG Eco. Mark’s experience in sustainability spans over nine years and covers a vast range of sustainability matters.
Janine Hirt, CEO Innovate Finance
Janine Hirt is the CEO of Innovate Finance (IF), the industry body representing the world-leading UK FinTech sector. Having joined the founding IF leadership team in 2015 first as Head of Membership then Ecosystem Director, she moved into the COO role in 2017 before stepping up to lead the organisation in 2021. Janine is passionate about driving transformation to create a more democratic, transparent and inclusive financial services sector for all. Her professional career has been marked by roles that sit at the intersection of policy, international relations, and industry, including senior positions at Chatham House, (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) and the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce.