Second Women’s Empowered Leadership Conference held

Several women entrepreneurs from across Guyana converged on Monday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) for the second Women’s Empowered Leadership Conference.

According to a Department of Public Information (DPI) report, facilitator of the event, Abbigale Loncke, explained that the two-day conference was aimed at providing a platform for female entrepreneurs to have discussions as well as mentoring and networking sessions.

She also said the workshop is geared towards empowering women through education and encouraging them to start their own small businesses, which she believes will alleviate poverty. “If we have to build better and safer communities, and if we have to break the cycle of poverty it is very important that women are at the forefront of both education and investment and that is why conferences like these are important,” Loncke was quoted as saying.

The theme for the conference was “When Women Prosper, We all Prosper” and the DPI report noted that plans are in train to make the event an annual one.

Tara Clinton, Local Area Procurement Manager for ExxonMobil, which is a corporate sponsor, reportedly lauded the initiative. She noted that her company employs more than 114 Guyanese women.

“Local suppliers are strategically important to the success of our operations and we are committed to working with them and other stakeholders to develop local companies and a competitive industrial base,” Clinton was reported as saying by DPI.

As ExxonMobil draws closer to the production of first oil, she further said, it will continue to support local content. “As our workforce grow, we expect to employ more women as well. The Centre for Local Business was set up to strategically support our local content efforts and to upgrade the skills of small and mediumsized businesses to increase their readiness to join the supply chain and advance first oil,” she added.

According to DPI, Public Affairs Officer of the US Embassy Guyana, Amanda Cauldwell, also commended the conference. However, she said that while such conferences are vital for the development of small to medium enterprises, access to capital, connection and mentoring are needed for entrepreneurs to be successful.