PG Top Woman Wins 2013 Silver Stevie Award

CommonKindness President and co-founder, Sarah Schloemer, recently recognized as a Progressive Grocer Top Woman in Grocery, has received a Silver Stevie Award in the Young Entrepreneur of the Year category, as part of the 10th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.

Known as the Stevies for the Greek word for “crowned,” the awards were presented to winners during an event at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York.

Schloemer was honored for her management and direction of CommonKindness, a free printable grocery coupon website that donates 20 percent of its revenues to the coupon users’ favorite nonprofit organization. The 28-year-old New Zealand native launched the innovative social enterprise that empowers people to “save money and help others” less than two years ago.

In a departure from the traditional pay-per-print model, Schloemer created a performance-based, pay-per-sale model for brands that eliminates account setup and coupon loading fees and charges only 25 cents for each coupon that’s redeemed. Consequently, a brand pays a fee only when it gets a sale.

“Having been founding chairman of several consumer brand companies, I believe Sarah has found the most cost-effective way to generate sales for brands and help nonprofits, a double win!" said Andrew Martin, founding chairman of Sausalito, Calif.-based CommonKindness. “Sarah is a natural leader, and she leads with a rare combination of kindness, competence and vision.”

Award winners were selected by the more than 240 executives worldwide who participated in the judging process this year. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes, as well as the people behind them, the Fairfax, Va.-based Stevies program recognizes outstanding performances in the workplace globally.

PG’s Top Women in Grocery appeared in the publication’s June 2013 issue, with special workshop sessions and a formal awards gala held on Nov. 5.