The awards are open to women working across middle-market M&A, including private equity investors, investment bankers, corporate dealmakers, attorneys, lenders and other advisers. Honorees are chosen for the influence they have within their own firms and the impact they have across the wider middle-market dealmaking community.

Mergers & Acquisitions has recognized the Most Influential Women in Mid-Market M&A since 2015. It is the industry’s longest-running award of its kind. A new class of honorees is recognized each year and profiled on TheMiddleMarket.com based on the initiatives and impact the executive has produced over the previous year.

Honorees are chosen by the editors of Mergers & Acquisitions from candidates nominated each year. Selection weighs a dealmaker’s measurable influence, leadership and contribution to advancing women in the field, with the stated aim of profiling women who have made their mark and are inspiring the next generation.

Nominations are submitted through the official Mergers & Acquisitions nomination form, which is posted annually about 4 months before the award announcement. Anyone in the industry can put forward a candidate. Specific dates for nomination deadlines are posted on TheMiddleMarket.com each year. There is no fee to submit a nomination.

The nomination form opens in mid-September and entries are typically due by the end of October. Announcement of the awards is made in early January, coinciding with the publishing of the January / February issue of Mergers & Acquisitions.