WeLead Caribbean – an empowerment platform for women

May 02, 2021 News

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“We understand there is a need now more than ever to connect and build bridges in Guyana and around the world for all women.”

By Rehanna Ramsay

Kaieteur News – With a holistic approach to empowering women in business and the boardroom, WeLead Caribbean is a non-profit organisation, which focuses on t

he advancement of women in Guyana and the Caribbean through mentorship, training and coaching.
The initiative, which was birthed in 2017 as the brainchild of Abbigale Loncke and Jacquelyn Gates-Shipe continues to foster several programmes with that aim in mind.
Most people would recall that in 2016, Loncke, a female business leader, was recognised in a speech by U.S. President, Barack Obama, for her exemplary leadership in the Guyanese business community and providing employment opportunities to single mothers and young women at the Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative forum in Peru.

Today she sits at the helm of an all-female Board of Directors at WeLead Caribbean; an organisation she started a year later, along with her mentor, Jacquelyn Gates-Shipe, the Chief Executive Officer of Global Ties Alabama, a non-profit organisation that promotes global peace and understanding through citizen diplomacy.
Loncke told Kaieteur News that the WeLead Caribbean’s “programmes are designed to empower women leaders today for tomorrow’s success.”
So far, through its partnership with ExxonMobil, the Nico Consulting Group and U.S. Embassy in Georgetown, WeLead has trained over 300 Guyanese women and hosted five regional women entrepreneur and empowerment conferences.
The organisation has facilitated several women’s entrepreneurial projects including: a six-week project in 2020 that trained 45 women in business development, marketing, packaging and branding; a mentorship workshop pairing women in business with mentors who can help them to develop their businesses in the years 2017 – 2018 – 2019; and the Women PowHERful Business Development training session in 2019 for 25 women on the matters of financing and marketing.

In addition, the organisation has hosted an International Women’s Day Brunch and a Business Exhibition Women’s Market Day for female entrepreneurs in Essequibo.
At present, WeLead is focused on Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) Guyana, which was launched in April 2021 to train 25 women entrepreneurs in Region Two.
The co-founder told Kaieteur News that the organisation started out as part of efforts to help women grow in business, wellness and personal development.
According to Loncke, since its launch, WeLead Caribbean has successfully hosted four women in business conferences including the Empowered Leadership Conference 2017; Empowered Leadership Conference 2018 under the theme “When Women Prosper, We all Prosper,” the PowHERful Conference in 2019 and the DisruptHER Conference in 2020.
She explained that the conferences are designed “for women, by women” and connects participants with experts, leaders and voices from the diaspora and within the walls of Guyana on various women in business specific topics.
To this end, she noted that her Board of Directors, which includes Miranda Thakur-Deen, Vice- President; Melanie Gaskin-Benjamin, Public Relations Officer; Avi Maria Lindie, Chairwoman; Shaunda Yarde, Treasurer; Georgia Inniss, Secretary, plays an essential role in getting all of the programmes off the ground.

Loncke said over the years WeLead Caribbean has uniquely positioned its platform as the largest gathering of female leaders within the region to assist in engaging much needed solution-based discussions and has also ensured that the right leaders are at the table for action.
And given that the annual empowerment conference is one of its premier programmes, WeLead features women leaders from across the Caribbean region including Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia and Trinidad, all of whom have been involved in mentorship, coaching, training and marketing services.
In 2019, the conference featured faces like that of Beyonce Knowles-Carter’s Grenada-born publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure. Noel-Schure, who has been responsible for managing Beyonce’s public image since she was 14 years old, was the keynote Speaker.
The publicist runs her own company, Schure Media Group, is the head of publicity for Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment, as well as Beyoncé’s active wear line, Ivy Park, and has worked with artistes like Prince, John Legend, Maxwell and former Destiny’s Child members, Rowland and Williams. Moreover, Noel-Schure was the ideal person to share some insight on life as brand manager for some of the well- known names in music across the globe.
Although she migrated to the United States when she was a young teen, the publicist credited the Caribbean-at-large in helping to shape her life experiences. She encouraged female Guyanese to take the leap into entrepreneurship.
Addressing a packed audience at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Noel-Schure delivered a powerful speech, on ‘how to succeed by being your true self, leading your narrative and find your purpose.’
Last year, though the conference, which is usually hosted at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, boasted over 150 participants, it was held virtually via Zoom.
The WeLead Caribbean President had noted that despite the challenges of the pandemic “2020 opened up a world of possibilities for the WeLead Caribbean platform and connected us like never before to a network of leaders and corporate and community organisation collaborations.”
Among those who were handpicked to feature in the empowerment session were Lisandra Rickard, Founder and CEO of Soul Career and Former CEO of the Richard Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship.
“These speakers were chosen because of their reputation and expertise in specific topics and are also individuals who will make this online format as empowering, informative and enlightening as the annual WeLead Conference,” said Loncke.
“From our experiences of 2020,” she added, “we understand there is a need now more than ever to connect and build bridges in Guyana and around the world for all women.”
Recognising the virtual conference as a valuable platform, she said that it allowed women to integrate, collaborate and engage in knowledge sharing and capacity building “in support of the challenges posed in our region and by the pandemic.”
In its latest project, which is sponsored by the US Embassy in Georgetown and was founded by the US State Department, WeLead Caribbean is seeking to reduce barriers and facilitate female entrepreneurship in the local economy.
Through the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) project, 25 women entrepreneurs from Region Two who have either already started businesses or are in the process of starting a business will be invited to participate in the training programme free-of-cost.
According to the Co-Founder, the five-month programme aims to support women in rural areas of Guyana and includes Venezuelan migrants. After the training is completed, the participants will be provided with practical tools to start their businesses through a mentorship programme.
Added to her work with WeLead Caribbean, Loncke is the founder and CEO of the Loncke Group, a business enterprise consisting of three companies.
Her fastest-growing firm is MBW Energy Support Services, a comprehensive oil and gas service advisory that advises companies entering the Guyanese energy market.

 

 

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