SCORES of women living on some of the Essequibo islands are set to benefit from the PowHERful Leadership and Business Conference, which will be held at the Anna Regina Town Council on April 27.

“The PowHERful conference focuses on leadership and business development; we have training sessions on finance, branding and marketing, start-up business development, self-care, mental health and female leadership,” 33-year-old entrepreneur and founder of WeLead Caribbean, Abbigale Loncke, shared.

WeLead is a non-profit organisation that supports and empower women throughout the Caribbean through conferences, training and mentorships.

“Our aim is to equip women with the necessary tools and on-going support to thrive personally and professional,” Loncke related, while sharing that the conference ties into the mandate of the organisation.

For this conference, she highlighted: “Our hope is to have 80 women attending the conference from Wakenaam to Charity, and since this is the first of its kind in Essequibo, we are intent on making it impactful.”

These women were selected after Loncke and her team reached out to village leaders and business development institutions in Essequibo, asking them to nominate women who have an interest in business or have recently started a business. Several small businesses have also sent their employees to attend the conference, according to Loncke.

The theme of the conference is: “Be fearless, influence, Innovate and Inspire”, and Loncke noted that the speakers are Investment Management Officer, Mark Peters; Acme Marketing Consultancy, Jennifer Cipriani and entrepreneur, Debbie Houston. The organisation also with Republic Bank, IPED Essequibo, Imman Bacchus and Son’s Ltd., the Essequibo Chamber of Commerce, NIS Essequibo and Shammah Boutique.

“As an Essequibian, I am extremely happy to be able to host this conference in Essequibo,” the woman said. “My hope is that with the ongoing support that we would offer female entrepreneurs and leaders in Essequibo, we would be able to see positive changes and development happening in the near future.”