Women entrepreneurs from across Guyana today flocked the Arthur Chung
Conference Centre (ACCC) for the Second Women’s Empowered Leadership
two-day conference.
Facilitator of the event, Abbigale Loncke explained the conference is
aimed at providing a platform for female entrepreneurs to have
discussions, as well as mentoring and networking sessions.
She added the workshop is geared at 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 noted.
Corporate Sponsor, ExxonMobil’s Local Area Procurement Manager, Tara
Clinton lauded the initiative, while highlighting that the company
employs more than 114 Guyanese women.
Clinton said, “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.”
According to the Procurement Manager, as ExxonMobil draws closer to
the production of first oil, 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 medium-sized businesses to increase their readiness to join the
supply chain and advance first oil, “she stated.
Public Affairs Officer of the US Embassy Guyana, Amanda Cauldwell also
commended the conference, while noting a similar programme by the
embassy which aims to empower youths in the Caribbean and Latin
America.
However, she reminded 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.
This year’s Women Empowered Leadership Conference is held under the
theme, “When Women Prosper, We all Prosper”.
Plans are in place to make the event an annual one.
