CII IWN, Goa Chapter held it much awaited annual conclave ‘It’s Her’ this month. The business session started with lighting the lamp by the dignitaries and a Saraswati invocation by members, Leena Kamat and Prerna Mainkar. The welcome note and setting up context address was presented by Sheetal Pai Kane, Chairperson CII-IWN Goa. Anirudh Agrawal, Chairperson CII Goa spoke about IWN activities and way ahead.
The key note speaker was Lathika Pai, Country Head, VC/PE partnerships, Microsoft. She held forth on creating conducive environments for women entrepreneurs to thrive through equal access to funding, markets and resources. Pai stressed that investors look for the grit and the inner confidence of the entrepreneur to evaluate a proposal along with market feasibility.
The spirited Q&A session following her address evoked a lot of interest amongst the lady entrepreneurs in the audience. A panel discussion on addressing ‘Gender Parity’ was next on the agenda. Moderated by Harshvardhan Bhatkuly, Editor and Publisher, Business Goa, the eminent panelists were SP Sunita Sawant, Goa Police; Pratima Manohar, co-founder, PlaceXplore; Swetika Sachan, IAS, Director, Directorate of Industries, Trade & Commerce, Government of Goa; Sulakshana Sawant, politician, social activist and educator. The engaged discussions highlighted different aspects on the subject and examined ways to address various issues by meaningful steps.
A change of guard for the new year to come followed with Sheetal Pai Kane Chairperson passing on the baton to Sonia Kuncalienker and her co-chair Dr. Nimisha Saraswat. New IWN members were also inducted in a short ceremony.
The conclave was graced by over 50 ladies from diverse walks of life, where networking and vibrant exchange of ideas was evident.
