Moira Forbes, Dr. Terry Neese, and Laurie Barkhorn-Photo by: Glen Davis, Forbes Photographer

The room was filled with women wanting to know how to improve their own businesses and give back to the community.     

That is exactly what they learned during a discussion led by Dr. Terry Neese, founder and CEO of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women.     

Women in attendance included Hartford Insurance sales representatives and their female small business clients or prospective clients.     

Dr. Neese’s presentation included a discussion around the intersection of small business owner’s voice in policy and business, small business trends for 2011, and establishing the right networks.     

Dr. Neese speaks to The Hartford's guests about small business and IEEW-Photo by: Glen Davis, Forbes Photographer

“[Dr. Neese] inspired the agents and customers to engage with their local legislators and policy makers and associations.,” said Laurie Barkhorn, Regional Vice President of The Hartford Financial Services, Inc.  

“She made it very clear that’s really the only way you could affect change.”  

Dr. Neese also discussed her small business background and how her experience evolved in to leading a global initiative toward sustaining economies through the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women’s PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS program.      

Moira Forbes, publisher of ForbesWoman, called the night a success and said, “Dr. Neese both educated and inspired the audience with her insights on women and small business in addition to her notable work to empower women’s success globally.”

2010
International Women’s Economic Summit
Presentations

Monday, June 21

LITERACY PANEL
Moderated by Dr. Kevin Fegan

Panelists
Professor Sakeena Yacoobi - Afghanistan

Carol Rugege
Education Director, Embassy of Rwanda

Click here to download the 2010 Literacy Panel PowerPoint

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/JOBS
Moderated by Monica Luechtefeld
EVP E-Commerce and Direct Marketing, Office Depot

Panelists
Glynis Long
DC Rotary Club

Mariam Nawabi
President and CEO, AMDi Inc

John Nkuranga
former Director of Protocol, Republic of Rwanda

Click here to download the 2010 Economic Development Jobs Panel PowerPoint

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday, June 22

IDENTIFYING OBSTACLES AND REACHING FOR SUCCESS

PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS Afghan delegation makes presentation to
His Excellency Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad
Afghanistan Ambassador to the U.S.

Click here to download the 2010 Afghan Delegation Presentation to Ambassador Jawad

PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS Rwandan delegation makes presentation to
His Excellency Ambassador James Kimonyo
Rwandan Ambassador to the U.S.

Click here to download the 2010 Rwandan Delegation Presentation to Ambassador Kimonyo

NAME: Marcelline Uwizeye

COUNTRY: Rwanda

BUSINESS: B&M Styles (designer boutique)

Marcelline, 30 years old, owns B&M Styles, a boutique that specializes in designer clothing. Before she was married, Marcelline worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a job she didn’t really love. After talking to her husband about her passion for business and style, she decided to start up her own boutique. With its two employees, B&M Styles offers its customers designer clothes, shoes, bags, as well as traditional wear. The business also sells material for  tailoring outfits.

Over the next five years, Marcelline hopes to expand her shop and open more branches in cities outside of Kigali. She would also like to purchase sewing machines so that she can begin designing her own clothing line.

Marcelline looks forward to her PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS training for many reasons, including meeting with other businesswomen and learning about customer care and what more ideas she could incorporate into her boutique.

NAME: Chantal Uwimpuhwe

COUNTRY: Rwanda

BUSINESS: Grill and BBQ Corner Restaurant (restaurant)

Chantal, 38 years old, co-owns Grill and BBQ Corner Restaurant.

Chantal opened her restaurant’s doors after she and her husband combined their savings and approached the bank for a loan.

The restaurant’s 17 employees serve their customers with a worldly dining experience. The international cuisine includes Indian, Chinese and African selections. Lunch buffet is served Monday through Friday.

Chantal’s future goals include priding her restaurant with the best service in the entire country, to open more restaurants, as well as juice bars and potato corners in the city and in other districts. She also wants to open a health retreat center, where people can come to learn about nutrition.

Through her PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS training, Chantal hopes to improve upon her business plan, and to become more aware of what obstacles her business faces.

NAME: Beltrida Uwamwezi

COUNTRY: Rwanda

BUSINESS: Solidarity Academy School (secondary school)

Beltrida, 47 years old, co-owns a secondary private school in Rwanda, Solidarity Academy School.

After the genocide in 1994, Beltrida returned to Rwanda from diaspora and with permission from the authorities, borrowed the school in her neighborhood. The previous owners had fled the country, leaving the school perfectly in tact. Fifteen years later, Beltrida has 37 teachers and support staff at her school.

The school follows the national curriculum, and students take their national exams and those who receive national certificates go onto a university-level education.

Beltrida’s business goals over the next five years include increasing the number of students who pass the national exam. She also wants to find more ways to contribute to her country’s development and to help  more students and teachers learn and adopt the English language, since it is so universally used at institutions of education. She would also like to increase her employees’ salaries and be able to renovate the school itself.

By attending PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS, Beltrida hopes to gain more knowledge about proper financial and resource management, human resources, and accountability.

Growing up in a family of all girls, Betrida was often told by her family members that she would never achieve anything for herself and her family. But her mother believed in her and fought for her education. But after attending school, Beltrida realized that she did have something to offer to society.

Years later, when trying to re-open the school, Beltrida was met with the same opposition – that as a woman, she could not accomplish this task. But her zeal to work and serve her community proved otherwise.

“To me, this was great achievement in life, and as a woman I felt big inside myself, feeling that with determination I can always make it!”

NAME: Angelique Uwamariya

COUNTRY: Rwanda

BUSINESS: Eden Events & Décor (bridal wear)

Angelique, 36 years old, owns Eden Events & Décor, which focuses on tailoring bridal gowns. She first started by helping to dress brides in cultural attire. It was only natural that she started designing and sewing both bridal and bridesmaid gowns.

With her two employees, Angelique schedules appointments with brides months in advance of the wedding to discuss their vision and dream for their weddings. Angelique also helps find the right colors for complexions. Eventually, she wants to expand her shop to include a full wedding service packages, including wedding planning and a beauty salon for make up, hair dressing, manicures, pedicures and facial treatments.

Through her PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS training, Angelique hopes to learn more about event planning, customer care, organization and how to successfully expand her company into all of Rwanda’s provinces.

NAME:

COUNTRY: Rwanda

BUSINESS: Fastcom Limited (business management consultant)

Diana, 34 years old, owns the newly formed Fastcom Limited, which specializes in the business management consultancy.

With its two employees, the company goes beyond consultancy to also provide event planning, communications and designing.

Over the next five years, Diana hopes to reach half of Kigali’s population, to provide the best services and to be self-sustainable and well-equipped.

By attending PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS, Diana wants to learn more about marketing, management and customer care. She looks forward to interacting with fellow businesswomen. Diana is in her final year of earning a bachelor’s degree in business management.

“I strongly believe that one day, I will be the best known strong entrepreneur in Rwanda and the region with excellent services. My motto is “the sky is limit.”

NAME:

COUNTRY: Rwanda

BUSINESS: Jet Travel (travel agency)

Faina, 39 years old, owns Jet Travel, a travel agency in Rwanda.

After working in the travel agency business for nine years, the company for which she worked shut down, so Faina decided to open her own business.

The company offers services such as hotel and flight reservations, airport pick-up and drop-off,  visa support, private drivers, car rental,  full organization of business and private events, banquets and receptions, as well as honeymooner packages. Faina currently has four employees.  Her goals over the next five years are to obtain accreditation by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and to open a Branch in Burundi.

Through her PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS training, Faina hopes to learn more about tourism operations and hotel management.

]]> http://www.ieew.org/uncategorized/faina-umulisa/feed 0 http://www.ieew.org/uncategorized/martine-umubyeyi http://www.ieew.org/uncategorized/martine-umubyeyi#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:56:32 +0000 admin http://www.ieew.org/?p=4830

NAME: Martine Umubyeyi

COUNTRY: Rwanda

BUSINESS: Macadamia Hotels (hotel)

Martine, 42 years old, owns Macadamia Hotels. She and her husband owned a large plot of land with a nice view over the town, so she thought a hotel might be a good way to fill the space. So far, the hotel construction is still a work in progress. The multipurpose hall and rooms will be available to the public this month. Martine currently has 14 employees. She hopes to expand the number of rooms, and eventually open up more hotel branches.

Martine hopes to find a suitable replacement for her job outside of her business, so she can focus all of her attention exclusively on Macadamia.

By attending PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS, Martine wants to learn more about hotel management, accounting and human resources.