WEConnect & U.S. Embassy host Masterclass for Sri Lankan Businesswomen

With support from U.S. Embassy, WEConnect International has hosted a Supplier Development Masterclass and Supplier Diversity and Inclusion Roundtable. This event took place in Colombo. Aiming at empowering, these events look forward to connect businesses that are owned by women, with industry leaders and potential buyers.

It focuses on fostering economic growth as well as promoting gender inclusivity across the value chains. Over 40 Sri Lankan women business owners have been joined by Julie Chung, the U.S. Ambassador since all these women participated in the Masterclass. This is an advanced training programme that features in-depth lessons while covering topics like business strategy, marketing, technology, negotiation and sales.

A pitch session was organised during the class where these female participants presented a panel of buyers with their businesses while providing valuable feedback in addition to potentially opening doors for better and new business opportunities. This has helped women business owners to scale their business or even start with their plans to enter the realm of business.

Additionally, Supplier Diversity and Inclusion Roundtable brought over 35 diverse stakeholders together that included U.S. diplomats, global business leaders, Sri Lankan government representatives, private enterprises, civil society and academia. Intending to develop innovative strategies, the multi-stakeholder discussion looks forward to embed gender inclusivity into value chains.