ORGANISERS and attendees at last Sunday’s Spring Fashion and Empowerment Conference organised by the Empowering to Lead with Confidence (ELC) and held at the Arthur Chung Convention Centre, at Liliendaal, on the lower East Coast.

The event, which included a panel discussion, a fashion show and a networking cocktail session, was held with the aim of enabling the creative growth of persons through education, empowerment and development of brands which will better equip them to compete internationally, sustain themselves, and contribute to Guyana’s economy.

The initiative is led by overseas-based Guyanese designer, Nadia Thomas Winter, the founder of ELC.  ELC comprises a group of persons who volunteer their time and passion for the promotion of the arts among Guyanese.

The event was attended by a number of young women, who took away a lot from the talks.

“My friend’s sister encouraged me to come, and I’m really glad that I came. It was pretty empowering,” said 20-year-old Prudence Iam, who was touched by the panel’s presentation.
“First, going in,” she said, “it seemed a little boring, but as I got into it and really listened and paid attention to what they were saying, there was a lot to take away from what they were saying.
“I am into motivational and inspirational books, but going in there and seeing those empowering women doing something great with their lives really made me want to go out and put some action on the things that I want to do.”

Talks at the conference were delivered by Akola Thompson, along with writer and motivational speaker Krystal Tomlinson from Jamaica, Ain Earle from Trinidad and Tobago, and Serbina Sumrah Kelly from the USA.

Participants were particularly moved by Tomlinson’s feature on overcoming fear.

“Overcoming fear is most important. Most persons have goals, and in achieving those goals, often, fear is what’s keeping them back, and they taught some ways to overcome that fear, and that stood out to me,” said Ian Smith, who was one of a few men who attended the conference.

He believes the talks met its mark in encouraging and empowering those in attendance.
“I think the young women would feel empowered seeing these women on top and doing it and coming back to teach them,” he noted.