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WEConnection
November 2015
Issue 5
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| Event Wrap Up: WEConnect International in Mexico Forum |
WEConnect International in Mexico hosted its 4th anual fórum on November 6 in Mexico City.
The event was very well attended by more than 120 people including women business owners, corporate members and government officials. The forum was a great opportunity to discuss the role of women as drivers of the economy and their role in multinational value chains. Among our esteemed guests and panelists including the U.S. Embassy's Deputy Chief of Mission Mr. William Duncan, Head of ProMexico's export promotion unit Ms. Elena Achar and President of Inadem (National Institute for Entrepreneurship) Mr. Enrique Jacob.
More than 39 buyers from 20 corporate members participated in our well-known matchmaking session with more than 60 women business owners. Over the course of three hours, women met one-on-one with buyers from member corporations including Accenture, AT&T, ExxonMobil, IBM, Monsanto, Pfizer, and Walmart. Also, this was the first year that PepsiCo Mexico participated as a local corporate member. Buyers from Dupont and Ford Motor Company participated as well, as an incentive to gauge the caliber of the businesses in our network. The matchmaking session facilitated 300 individual business meetings generating more than 8 potential leads / successes. These include:
- DIDCO with Accenture
- Mundo Genius with IBM
- Casa Manzano with Dupont
- Imaging Supplies with Pfizer and Ford, among others
This forum served as a platform for women to network amongst each other which also resulted in business opportunities.
WEConnect International in Mexico will be collaborating with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for a two-day event on February 9-10, 2016 as a follow up to the forum.
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| Upcoming National Conferences: Brazil, India and Canada |
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Lise Déziel, Cordé Électrique, Canada
Lise Déziel was named a WEConnect International in Canada WBE of the Year on Nov. 13, 2015!
Mme Déziel had been in the field of electrical wiring for 20 years before creating her own enterprise in 2010. Cordé Électrique has grown from 4 employees in 2010, to 45 employees in 2014.
In June 2015, Mme Déziel was invited by the Réseau des Femmes d'affaires du Québec and WEConnect International in Canada to attend the largest American supplier diversity conference for women business owners in Austin, Texas. She hesitated but decided to join in at the last minute. In just a few days at the conference, through the introductions made by WEConnect International, a non-profit that connects women entrepreneurs to market opportunities in global chains. Ms. Déziel met with GM, FCA, Toyota, and others. These multinational corporations encouraged her to seek the certification from WEConnect International in Canada which certifies and trains women owned businesses to do business with large corporations which have supplier diversity and inclusion programs.
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WEConnect International in South Africa held two events in Johannesburg and Cape Town on October 22nd and 23rd for over 50 attendees. Jean Chawapiwa, market lead for South Africa, kicked off her first WEConnect International events with great energy and enthusiasm. Participants heard about supplier diversity programs from representatives from the South Africa advisory council including Intel, Chair of the council, Accenture, and Cummins. Partner organizations UTHO and the Women Presidents' Organization provided insight into their programs and resources for women-owned businesses.
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Canadian Women Business Owners Power the Economy
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The Honorable Minister Chrystia Freeland addressed conference attendees on Nov. 13, 2015.
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The "Power the Economy" conference hosted by Feminomics and presented by the Business Development Bank of Canada and women's business enterprise HCM Works offered targeted education for business owners seeking to grow their businesses as well as a rich environment for corporations interested in creating or improving their inclusive sourcing programs. The agenda included world leaders in supplier diversity and inclusion, inspirational keynote speakers, successful women business owners, valuable networking opportunities, concrete business leads, and the high-powered energy and enthusiasm of impassioned advocates for powering up women's contributions to economic growth.
Highlights from the event included an address by The Honorable Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday, November 13, and an award ceremony recognizing numerous women business owners, corporate members, partners and champions of supplier diversity.
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Enabling Global Market Access for Women Entrepreneurs
Location: Washington, DC
Date & Time: December 7, 2015 at 3:30pm
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