How Los Angeles became the next stage for a global women’s leadership movement — and who took home the honors.
Photo Credit: Andrei White
The ISOUL Women Leadership Award is the association’s flagship recognition for women who are moving industries, communities, and culture forward. Born in Silicon Valley, it has grown into a traveling stage: each city adds its own light, but the standard stays the same — honor leadership that is bold, generous, and impossible to ignore.
Each cycle attracts a highly competitive pool of applications from across industries and countries, forming a global pipeline of candidates. From this pool, participants go through a multi-stage evaluation process, ultimately narrowing to a highly selective group of finalists — four nominees and one winner per category.
Participation at every level reflects this standard. While nominees are selected through a structured and competitive process, jury members are invited by ISOUL based on their proven track record, industry expertise, and contributions to their fields.
The program is built around seven categories that mirror how power actually shows up today. Global Visionary Leader celebrates cross-border influence and legacy. Innovator of the Year spotlights breakthroughs in technology and new models of value. Top Influencer recognizes women whose voice shifts how millions see themselves. Rising Star lifts leaders under thirty-five whose trajectory already changes the room they enter. Investor in Women thanks the capital and conviction that fund other women’s futures. Entrepreneur of the Year rewards the builders — the ones who turn ideas into payroll, teams, and lasting institutions. Impact in Women’s Lives is the heart category: the mentors, healers, and community architects who help other women step into a fuller version of themselves.
Candidates move through a serious pipeline — applications, materials, and review by a Global Leadership Committee of accomplished women from multiple countries and disciplines. Finalists and nominees are named publicly; winners are crowned at the live ceremony, often after speeches that feel less like protocol and more like testimony. For those who win, the award is not only a trophy: it is visibility, credibility, and a doorway into ISOUL’s private circles, global events, and long-term collaboration.
By the time the 2026 cycle reached Los Angeles, the timeline had already told its own story: applications closed March 10, nominees were announced March 15, and on March 27 the association gathered in Southern California for the main event — the same rhythm ISOUL publishes on its official award page at isoul.space.
Photo Credit: Andrei White
Los Angeles, in that context, is more than a pin on a map. It is where entertainment, venture, wellness, and global diasporas overlap — a natural fit for a community that believes leadership should be seen as well as studied. On the night of the ceremony, the room carried the energy the city is famous for: founders comparing notes after the spotlight, introductions that turn into real projects, and the quiet certainty that women rise faster when they rise together.
Leadership on stage and on the ground
Jane Milovanova — Founder & CEO, ISOUL
Jane Milovanova is a Silicon Valley–based serial entrepreneur and community builder at the intersection of AI, innovation, education, and women’s leadership. She has founded three global businesses across technology, education, and community; raised and managed $1M+ in investments; and previously served as CEO of an AI-driven EdTech company and an IT university, training 4,000+ students with teams across the United States, Europe, China, and Israel. She leads ISOUL — a global women’s association with 5,000+ participants across 29 countries and 512+ association-led events — with a mission to elevate the mindfulness of humanity through the hearts of women. She is a public speaker and influencer who pairs emotional intelligence with systems thinking and the discipline to build scalable, multinational ecosystems.
Anna Nosok — Head of ISOUL Los Angeles, USA
Anna Nosok is the Head of ISOUL Los Angeles: the leader who translates a global mission into local gravity — the right guests, the right tone, and the introductions that make a chapter feel like home. According to ISOUL’s official program materials (isoul.space), she is Founder & CEO of Agency AA, an international digital agency with 12+ years on the global market; creator and leader of large-scale PR agencies in Ukraine and the United States; an expert in global marketing, digital strategy, and international PR; recognized with international industry awards and featured in leading media; co-founder of the ONERGY app (technology, wellness, and community); and a community builder who connects entrepreneurs, creators, and leaders across markets. On award night, her presence next to Jane’s signals what ISOUL is at its best: founder vision and city leadership moving in lockstep.
The honorees of the Los Angeles evening
Across social channels, @isoul.global introduced the women who claimed the top prizes in each category — a roster that reads like a cross-section of the modern economy.
Oksana Tsvigun, honored as Global Visionary Leader, brings the scale of global commerce into the story: she is CEO and Founder of OT Growth Labs and former CEO of Lamoda Ukraine — leadership that spans markets and generations. Nina Svet took Innovator of the Year as an international model, influencer, entrepreneur, and Web3 investor, proof that creativity and new financial rails can share the same biography. Kim Baituken won Top Influencer as a beauty and lifestyle creator, licensed esthetician, and entrepreneur whose work turns confidence into a teachable craft.
The night also belonged to women still early in their public arc and to those who move capital and care in equal measure. Anna Chernikova received Rising Star as a PhD in Science, research fellow, and entrepreneur — a portrait of science meeting entrepreneurship without apology. La Keisha Landrum Pierre was named winner in Investor in Women, celebrated for building pathways so more women can succeed in venture and beyond. Anna Semenova earned Entrepreneur of the Year as the founder of Unity Acting School and Hollywood Children’s Career Coach, linking performance discipline to the next generation’s professional future. Fatima Nasir Bachkami closed the human-impact thread with Impact in Women’s Lives: a psychologist, sexologist, entrepreneur, and founder of the Women of New Era community — someone who builds rooms where women return to themselves.
Together, they are not a spreadsheet; they are a single argument ISOUL keeps making in every city it touches — that when women lead with clarity and courage, industries bend, audiences listen, and communities last.
The jury behind the decisions
The Los Angeles cycle of the ISOUL Women Leadership Award was shaped by an international jury composed of founders, investors, operators, and community leaders — all contributing to a rigorous, multi-layered evaluation process.
The jury included Lana Khachiyan, Kim Lee, Anna Kovalova, Dr. Osa Eisele, Kristina Shadrina, Alina Tsykhotska, Yuliia Dudchenko, Anastasia Sartan, Anna Zhaivoronok, Daria Kuk, Aliia Roza, Alena Petrova, Masha Liberman, Kateryna Latysheva, Olena Mahilda, Olena Pasulia, Veronika Kornia, Tetiana Zaruba, Jeanna Kotenko, Anastasiia De La Cruz, Olha Ostapenko, as well as Violetta Korovkina.
The Global Leadership Committee played a central role in maintaining consistency and integrity across all categories, while category-specific jurors brought domain expertise to each nomination — from venture evaluation and investment logic to community impact and global influence.
This layered structure reflects a core principle of the award: every recognition is the result of collective peer validation. Behind each winner stands a group of professionals who independently assessed the same work and arrived at the same conclusion — this work matters.
Photo Credit: Andrei White
The association behind the award
ISOUL is a global women’s association for founders, investors, experts, and leaders from more than twenty-eight countries. Beyond the trophy moment, the organization runs curated events, digital tools, masterminds, the She Speaks platform, accelerator and grant programs, and the award series itself — a full stack for women who are done waiting for permission. Public figures published on the official ISOUL platform highlight 5,000+ participants across 29 countries, 250+ accredited members, and 512+ association-led events — numbers that explain why a single night in Los Angeles can feel like a hinge in a much larger door.
Women who want to join the journey can explore the association through its official website, follow updates via the @isoul.global Instagram channel, or review the full award program available online.
