BHD celebrates the eleventh edition of the Women Who Change the World Award

National District, Dominican Republic. The BHD Bank BHD celebrated this Wednesday the eleventh edition of the Women Who Change the World Award, an event during which it presented the eleven winners of 2026, including two special recognitions and three awardees with first and second places. The ceremony was held in the Carlos Piantini Hall of the Eduardo Brito National Theater.

The first-place winner is Juana Mercedes de Brioso, from Monte Plata; the second-place winners are Sr. Audelia Rodríguez Argueta, from Azua, and Flor María Sepúlveda, from Villa Altagracia.

The event was attended by the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader Corona, and was presided over by Luis Molina Achécar, President of the BHD Financial Center; Steven Puig, President of Banco BHD and member of the Award jury, and Josefina Navarro, Executive Vice President of Corporate Communication and Social Responsibility of the entity.

“The eleven women we recognize today have chosen well, time and time again. They have worked in health, inclusion, culture, social action, and community development. They have faced limitations, mobilized resources, formed teams, and built solutions,” highlighted Molina Achécar.

During the awards ceremony, two special tributes were presented; one to Juana Evangelista del Carmen Rodríguez Blanco, from Santiago, known as Camelia Ureña, and another to Sister María Carmen Veiga Castiñeira, from Santo Domingo.

Addressing the guests at the ceremony, Puig highlighted that “their works produce transformations that can be seen and measured: literate people, young people accessing education, families finding medical care, communities receiving water, housing, and development opportunities.”

The rest of the winners of this edition are Ada Alba Drullard and Jennifer Inmaculada Ramos Concepción, from Santo Domingo; Adela Matos Cuevas de Florián, from Independencia; Antigua Melania Martínez Santos, from Salcedo; Hada Mirelis Ciprián Montero, known as Maleli, from Azua, and María Amelia “Beba” Finke Brugal, from Puerto Plata.

Navarro assured that “this ceremony is not the end of the process; it is the beginning. After tonight, a stage of support begins to strengthen the capabilities and projects of the winners. Throughout the history of the Award, more than 5,000 people have received training through this program. In this way, knowledge also reaches the teams, beneficiaries, and communities of the recognized women.”

The jury for the Women Changing the World Award is composed of, in addition to Puig, Huchi Lora, journalist; María Amalia León, president of the Eduardo León Jimenes Foundation; Óscar Villanueva, president of the Quiéreme Como Soy Foundation; Father Secilio Espinal, rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), and Soledad Álvarez, philologist and poet.

The awards ceremony will be broadcast on Color Visión, channel 9, on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at nine o’clock at night.

Increase in prize money

During the ceremony, Navarro announced that Banco BHD increased the cash prizes that accompany this recognition.

The first-place winner will receive one and a half million pesos, the two second-place winners and each special honoree will receive one million pesos, and the other winners will receive five hundred thousand pesos each.

Scope of the Women Changing the World Award

The Women Who Change the World Award was born in 2014 and constitutes one of the main social responsibility programs of Banco BHD, and an essential pillar of the entity’s Gender Strategy for Women. Throughout the eleven editions held, more than 800 applications have been received and 122 women from across the country have been recognized for their work in education, health, inclusion, culture, environmental protection, productive development, social action, and community strengthening.

Throughout the history of the Award, more than 5,000 people have received training through the accompaniment program, which strengthens the initiatives of the awardees and extends their benefits to the communities where these women carry out their work.