– to help find solutions to challenges in world of business

THE Empowered Leadership Conference (WeLead2018) opened on Monday with women being urged to break down the barriers preventing them from establishing their own businesses.

In her address to scores of women and men at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Community Health Care, Abbigale Loncke said that in normal circumstances, a great idea and a market opportunity are critical ingredients for a successful startup, but for women there are more hurdles. Many of them, she said, are artificial, while others are cultural and attitudinal.

“Access of capital is one of them. And the other one is that even when we get going, the ability to break down the barrier of the boys’ network is not an easy or straightforward task,” Loncke said.

Loncke, a Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) Alumnus, said the two-day conference being held under the theme, “When Women Prosper, We All Prosper”, creates a platform for discussion on how women could overcome the challenges they face in the world of business.

“We will use this meeting to share notes and experiences; to dish ideas and encouragement; and to indeed learn from each other,” she posited.
Loncke noted that with the help of her team of friends and volunteers, and sponsors such as ExxonMobil, Eco Atlantic International Investments and Metro Office and Computer Supplies, the conference was made a reality, creating a platform for women in small business to move beyond the starting line.

“Empowering women through education, and encouraging them to start their own small business is the way to alleviate poverty and make the world a better place,” Loncke said.
“If we have to build better and safer communities, and if we are to break the cycle of poverty, it is important that women are at the forefront in both education and investment,” she added.

US Embassy’s Public Affairs Officer Amanda Cauldwell said that it was out of their cognisance of the challenges facing young entrepreneurs in the Caribbean and Latin America that the United States launched YLAI, which organisation creates a window of opportunities for entrepreneurs to flourish.

Every year since 2016, Cauldwell said, young entrepreneurs, under the programme, are given the opportunity to develop their businesses and social entrepreneurship initiatives.
Cauldwell said that the US Government is assisting in addressing the challenges faced by women in what is still being considered “a man’s world”, noting that when women entrepreneurs are supported, economies grow.

ExxonMobil Guyana Area Procurement Manager, Tara Clinton said that of the over 130 women supporting ExxonMobil’s activities in Guyana, 114 are Guyanese. These women, she said, range from lawyers to procurement associates, to caterers.
The Centre for Local Business, she said, was set up by ExxonMobil to upgrade the skills of small and medium-size businesses to increase their readiness to join the supply chain ahead of First Oil in 2020.

“At ExxonMobil, we recognise the importance of improving women’s economic potential,” she said, adding that the oil giant fullly endorses the change in culture “where women are full participants in the social and economic spheres of society.”
Clinton said, too, that across the world, women are increasing their opportunities and utilising their skill sets. To those sitting in the conference centre, Clinton urged them not to be afraid to form partnerships.

“As you grow your business, identify with other companies that have synergies with your own; consider partnering with them and together, you can combine to deliver solutions,” she said, while urging the women there to learn from and support each other.
The conference covers a wide range of areas including entrepreneurship, innovation and technology and sustainable growth. An exhibition that shows women in business also formed part of the conference.