AWE Summit Expands Women’s Entrepreneurship Networks and Fosters Innovation across the Indo-Pacific

In celebration of Intercontinental Women’s Working day, U.S. Embassy Kuala Lumpur is internet hosting the very first regional Academy for Women of all ages Business owners (AWE) Summit from March 6-9, bringing jointly almost 200 ExchangeAlumni, gals entrepreneurs and small business leaders from throughout the Indo-Pacific. The AWE Summit will leverage U.S. business expertise and technologies in strategies that construct business acumen, develop sustainable advancement, and foster better networking amongst women of all ages business people across the location.  

A woman speaks at a podium on stage to an audience in a large auditorium. Behind her is a screen with several logos and the text: Wanita Empowered Empowers Everyone.
An AWE alumna in Malaysia gives a speech at a earlier AWE function. [U.S. Embassy Kuala Lumpur photo]

Released in 2019 by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Section, AWE is an trade application that gives ladies the expertise, networks, and entry they require to start and broaden successful firms. In collaboration with the Business of the U.S. Speaker Program, the summit will carry slicing-edge U.S. experience in technology and innovation with workshops from two small business leaders in tech and finance. 

Nancy Wang, general supervisor at Amazon Net Solutions, will give the keynote handle on Global Women’s Working day, March 8. Passionate about advancing women in technical fields, Wang is the founder and board chair of Advancing Girls in Tech (AWIT), a global 501(c)(3) nonprofit with extra than 35,000 members spanning 3 continents. AWIT delivers mentoring to promote ladies in leadership roles in product and engineering at B2B providers, and has skilled 40,000 girls through their product administration and cloud computing classes on Coursera.

Headshot of Nancy Wang, General Manager at Amazon Web Services.
Nancy Wang, Common Supervisor at Amazon World-wide-web Products and services and Keynote speaker at the summit. [Photo by Elisa Cicinelli]

“I decided to start mentoring since I could see the world-wide motion to aid females achieve monetary independence by advancing in their career paths and I needed to be a part of it,”  Wang reported. 

At the AWE Summit, Wang will lead workshops to practice AWE alumni on attaining merchandise-marketplace fit, potential proofing, making a sustainable business enterprise product, and the significance of embracing fairness. A person of the crucial spots of advancement for gals business people, states Wang, is to understand how to make companies that will prosper and expand about time, letting ladies to be economically impartial – which she says girls can accomplish by producing the right product or service and selling it in the correct industry.  

Wang launched AWIT as a non-profit group that accelerates professions and addresses variety gaps in management. In a latest AWIT push release the business announced it is at present checking out methods to collaborate with the U.S. Section of Condition to guidance far more women of all ages in AWE’s world-wide community. 

Headshot of Rekha Paj Kamath, angel investor and entrepreneurship coach from Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund.
Rekha Pai Kamath, angel investor and entrepreneurship mentor from Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund. [Photo by JB]

Angel investor and partner at Silicon Valley Social Undertaking Fund, Rekha Pai Kamath will guide workshops that target on funding, addressing distinct avenues for funding your small business and designing profitable enterprise pitches for buyers. Kamath started collaborating with the Point out Office in 2012 as a guest speaker for one more U.S. federal government program termed TechWomen, and was energized by that experience.    

“It was very inspiring to see that the State Office was attempting to url women in tech from emerging international locations to females in Silicon Valley,” Kamath mentioned.  “And for me as a woman engineer, I felt like this was a way that I could hook up, give again, share, and interact.”

Born and lifted in India, Kamath faced lots of road blocks launching her very own business and is identified to give back to other females. She hopes to encourage individuals attending the summit to invest in startups, and will share lessons figured out on how to make a new organization far more interesting for traders – lessons that she mentioned several gals entrepreneurs are eager to master.

“The 1 issue I hope the females consider away from this summit is to have a lot more self-confidence,” Kamath stated. “The journey might search rough proper now, but there are sources for everyone to choose edge of and I’m here to support.”

As a U.S. government trade software, AWE empowers women of all ages by teaching them the strategic preparing and company enhancement capabilities they require to grow. A main aim is on constructing higher self-self-assurance and unbiased conclusion-creating amid women of all ages business owners – with help from some of the ideal tech experience in the United States.

“Owning your own small business offers you economic liberty, and it is my enjoyment to share what I have discovered to help women about the environment achieve this,” Wang stated.

Background

The Academy for Girls Business owners is a plan of the U.S. Department of Point out that instantly supports the U.S. Nationwide System on Gender Equity and Equality. Given that 2019, AWE has utilised the DreamBuilder on the web mastering system, made by Arizona Condition University’s Thunderbird College of Worldwide Administration, to empower a lot more than 25,000 females business owners in 100 international locations to observe their dream of owning a small business. AWE operates in nations throughout Asia and the Pacific, helping roughly 1,200 women business owners each year  to develop their corporations and get to their total economic possible.

The Place of work of the U.S. Speaker System collaborates with U.S. embassies and consulates close to the world to hook up specialist international audiences with American citizen specialists on subjects of strategic importance to the United States. Systems are performed in particular person and by digital engagement platforms and concentration on essential international policy matters. The U.S. Speaker software gives experts an chance to have interaction with new audiences, grow their networks, and trade concepts with gurus across the world. 

For more details about AWE, visit: https://eca.condition.gov/awe

About the Writer:  Naomi Hampton, is an intern with the U.S. Division of State, now studying Background and Politics of the Americas at University School London.