THE Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Guyana (WCCIG) – the first of its kind in the Caribbean – was officially launched, on Thursday evening, at the Pegasus Hotel.
The chamber, which was established last July, is headed by WCCIG co-founder and President, Kerensa Gravesande-Bart.

“Women should not wait for others to create better opportunities for themselves and their families. It is important for women to join forces to overcome these obstacles by creating organisations that span economic opportunities for all women. Hence, the WCCIs are prime examples of such organisations as they foster the participation of women by working to establish an inclusive entrepreneurial system,” Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Country Representative, Sophie Makonnen, said as she delivered the feature address.

“In a world where equity and access to resources are still part of our daily challenge as women and public policies are not where they should be regarding gender equity, empowerment, and creating more women-friendly business platforms, it is my profound hope that the WCCIG champions women’s inclusion in businesses,” she added.

The launch was also held on the same day as the launch of the 2020 Women in Business Expo, which, for the past five years, has been providing a platform for women businesses to showcase their products, and provide measures to helping them improve their craft.
Giving a brief history on the origins of the chamber of commerce, Makonnen noted that it was created as a means of networking, and for the provision of a platform for the representation of women in the world of business.

Chief Executive Officer CEO) of Strategic Recruitment Solutions Inc, Gravesande-Bart, formed WCCIG, along with its Vice President, Lyndell Danzie-Black. According to Gravesande-Bart, the chamber is a dynamic organisation dedicated to empowering women.
The WCCIG has seven Board Directors; aside from Gravesande-Bart and Danzie-Black.

TheY are: GUYOIL CEO, Renata Exeter; Managing Director/Researcher at Professional Development Consultants, Anije Lambert; International Motivational Speaker/Journalist Sherry Ann Dixon; Attorney-at-Law Tamara Khan; and Managing Director, ACME Marketing Consultancy, Jennifer Cipriani.

The WCCIG is an affiliate of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI). In his remarks, GCCI President, Nicholas Boyer, applauded Gravesande-Bart and Danzie-Black for forming the organisation.

“This organisation will promote a new cadre of women who are strong, intelligent and are going to be trail blazers and successful. What we at the Chamber have to do with these trailblazer women is work with them, because our communities are built on women,” Boyer said.

“At GCCI we must find and figure out the ways in which we can work with them and we are committed to doing so. We expect wonderful things from you and your team. We are not in competition; we are here to work with them. Women entrepreneurship has the potential to change our economy when you think about one of the untapped reserves in our economy,” he added.