Otara Gunewardene – Representing Sri Lanka in The Global Business Community
The founder of ODEL, Embark and the Otara Foundation, Ms. Otara Gunewardene had the opportunity to share her experience and knowledge as an entrepreneur, businesswoman and advocate at three different world forums over the course of the past few months.
Speaking about the forums, Ms. Gunewardene explained that she had participated in three forums. The first being the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) which was held in Hyderabad, India under the theme ‘Women First, Prosperity for All’, with the participation of over 1500 global entrepreneurs and investors. The summit was hosted by the United States of America and the Republic of India. Therefore, the forum was inaugurated by India’s Prime Minister HE Mr. Narendra Modi and the US delegation was led by Ms. Ivanka Trump. “It was indeed a privilege to be part of such a prestigious gathering”, she commented.
“Following that I got an opportunity to speak at the Inaugural Women’s Forum ‘The Power of Half a Billion’, which was jointly presented by Economic Times and Facebook. This was in Mumbai and had around 50 international speakers and over 500 participants”, explained Ms. Gunewardene.
The third invitation was from the Ladies Study Group for their conference, ‘Shakti Beyond Borders’. The event was a platform to celebrate success stories of women from the 6 SAARC countrieswho have made significant contributions to their country in different fields.
Overall, the three forums were key to the South Asian region as they created a platform for like-minded advocates to come together, discuss, debate and lead innovative initiatives in their focused areas.
“It was a privilege to be at these events, especially amidst entrepreneurs who have made their global mark at the GES. It was also a pleasure to represent Sri Lanka together with entrepreneur Mr. Merrill. J. Fernando who also joined the event. The knowledge and experience that was shared in all these forums led to a wider understanding of the kind of opportunities and challenges we have, some are common and others are unique to each country. However, the outlining fact was that change is happening and a lot of focus is being given to encourage more women entrepreneurs across the world”, replied Ms. Gunewardene when asked to share her feelings at having received invitations to attend such prestigious global events.
Describing her contribution to each of the events, Ms. Gunewardene stated that at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, she had been a part of the discussion named ‘Grassroots Grow: Women in emerging Markets’, in which the participants spoke about how each one of them successfully secured new opportunities in emerging markets, the cultural opportunities and challenges faced by entrepreneurs who are scaling businesses in South Asia. The overall summit was focused on empowering innovators, especially women, to take their ideas to the next level.
The Economic Times Women’s Forum focused on over 12 areas such as gender diversity, enhancing women’s participation in the workforce, breaking the proverbial glass ceiling, women in sports, startups, civic society and performing arts. As a result, it was a gathering of women with achievements in different areas, which included Olympic medalists, Heads of Startups, Bollywood directors and combat pilots. The panel Ms. Gunewardene spoke in was named ‘Neighbors Beating Gender Bias’ and on the panel were Ms. Sarah Ali from Bangladesh who is the Managing Director of Bitopi Advertising Limited, and Ms. Fawziakoofi – Afghan politician and women’s rights activist. It was moderated by Ms. Sagarikaghose, Consulting Editor of the Times of India.
At ‘Shakti Beyond Borders’ the participants highlighted their experiences and emphasized the fact that the most important thing for women across generations and borders is to stand by each other and help each grow as individuals and professionals. The key focus area was how economic empowerment of more women can build economies, making countries stronger.
Reminiscing on the most significant moments of her experience at the forums, Ms. Gunewardene said, “The GES was one of the biggest summits I have attended. The fact that it was hosted by the governments of India and the USA meant that we were able to meet the Prime Minister of India himself, HE Mr. Narendra Modi. In addition, it was a privilege to meet powerful women like Ms. Cherie Blair and Ms. Chandakochhar – CEO of ICICI Bank and many successful entrepreneurs and business leaders. A few of us were invited for a special dinner with the Prime Minister and Ms.ivanka Trump at the Taj Falaknuma Palace, which was a very special experience. At the ET Women’s Forum, I had the opportunity to meet women such as Ms. Andrea Jung – the longest tenure female Fortune 500 CEO. These people continue to inspire more and more women to believe in their strengths, and encourage others to believe in their dreams.