A global conference that will assemble business and professional women across selected professional fields is set to be held in Accra on October 6, 2018. 

Numbering over 1,000, the women who cut across all ages would engage in an important discourse and the sharing of resources essential for success in business, industry and entrepreneurial endeavours.

Organised by the US-Ghana Chamber of Commerce, the conference will bring together female professionals in the fields of health care, finance, legal, business and education, in the spirit of creating a sense of self-awareness, self-empowerment and self-leadership that cuts across political, cultural, religious and national boundaries.

A statement issued by the organisers in Accra said the primary goal of the conference was to increase the level of awareness and leadership and business competencies of female professionals and entrepreneurs.

It is also to provide the platform for informal and formal cross-sharing of expertise, mentorships, ideas and resources across industry, geographical boundaries and generations.

Conference dynamics

The statement also added that the conference would emphasise social responsibility and the importance of preparing the next generation of women and thus a part of the conference included site visits to organisations with services that impacted the quality of life and provided learning opportunities for girls in Ghana.

Again, a panel, comprising women who have succeeded outside of academia, professionally and have had formal business structures will also be constituted to share their unique experiences.

“To that end, as appropriate, sessions will be offered in local Ghanaian dialects (with translation in English). In addition, cross-generational discussions will be encouraged to increase understanding and post-conference communication among attendees of all ages,” the statement said.

It also added that young women and girls would interact with, and learn from, conference participants who represented the women they aspired to be and could become.

Speakers

Speakers lined up for the conference include the Wife of the Vice-President, Mrs Samira Bawumia; the USA Director of International Association for Women Judges, Madam Lisette Shirdan Harris; a retired Senior Vice-President of Marketing & Public Affairs, Amerihealth Caritas, Mrs Maria Pajil Battle; a former Editor-in-Chief of Essence Magazine, Ms Monique Greenwood and the Anglophone Board Representative, International Confederation of Midwives, Ms Jemima Dennis-Antwi (PHD).  

The rest are a Partner, Reed Smith LLC, Madam Roberta Torian ESQ; CEO and Chair of Adom Mbroso Cold Store, Dr Justina Baidoo: the Commissioner, Superior Court Riverside California, Ms Belinda A. Handy; the CEO and Medical Director of  Global Infectious Diseases Washington DC, Dr Bertha Ayi and a Sickle Cell Specialist, Sickle Cell Foundation of Ghana, Dr Kweku Ohene Frempong.

Partnership

The organisers of the conference are also presenting an opportunity for individuals, corporations and organisations to partner with the US/Ghana Chamber of Commerce for the event as a GWX Conference Sponsor.

Sponsors of the event will through their support demonstrate their commitment and support for the GWX Conference objectives and assist in the implementation of one of Ghana’s most important Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to sustain and lift women of all ages across political, religious, ideological and cultural boundaries.

Sponsors, the statement explained, would also receive strategic outcome-based exposure and the potential to attract multifaceted investments while simultaneously helping to deliver tailored skills and professional/personal development training to global women and girls.

They will also be contributing to ending gender disparities by partnering with the US/Ghana Chamber of Commerce in empowering women and girls to seek leadership and decision-making roles.

The US-Ghana Chamber of Commerce is dedicated to the facilitation and promotion of trade and investment, economic growth, increasing business opportunities and advocacy on behalf of its membership in both countries between the two countries.

The chamber provides a forum for actionable discussion of matters of mutual benefit and seeks to participate in the enactment of business-friendly legislation at all levels of government.