Barbados IWF chosen to host global meeting

The Barbados International Women’s Forum (IWF), in its fifth year, has been selected to host the annual IWF Global Board Meeting and Strategic Retreat from February 7-9, 2024.

Previous board meeting host locations include Singapore, Austria, and most recently, Spain, in February 2023. This global board meeting is also the precursor to IWF’s 50th-anniversary celebrations and conference to be hosted in New York in May 2024.

“We are delighted to be in Barbados for our first Global Board meeting of our 50th Anniversary year,” said IWF Global President Carolyn Carter. “Our Forum in Barbados is only five years old but embodies the values of IWF – women at the top of their game personally and professionally supporting each other and paying it forward to develop the next generation of women leaders. Our Barbados members are incredibly accomplished, and we are proud to be here with them as we plan the future of our global leadership organisation.”

Local coordinator of the meeting and global board member Brenda Pope said it is a significant achievement for Barbados IWF, part of the invitation-only global network of some of the most accomplished women in the world.

“IWF is in 33 countries with 76 forums and for Barbados, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary to have a Global Board Meeting is commendable,” said Pope who added that the Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. and Invest Barbados had supported the IWF global meeting and the delegates will have a chance to go on tours of the island.

President of the Barbados IWF Donna Every shared that the Barbados forum currently has as its focus, three main working groups. One of these is Women on Boards, which is aimed at increasing the number of women on Boards in Barbados and has carried out two surveys to determine the Gender Diversity Index of Barbadian boards. The second group is Women in STEM, aimed at increasing the interest and participation of girls and women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) careers or businesses and produced a series of vlogs featuring women in STEM careers. The group is about to launch an APP that is being developed in association with the Barbados Community College.

The final group, Financial Empowerment, initially sought to enable young girls, who at age 16 are required to leave children’s homes, to successfully transition out of the Home environment and into independence.

Every said: “This project has broadened to include other young ladies and empowers them by teaching them life skills, providing mentoring and assistance in finding jobs as well as providing appropriate attire for work through the Suited for Success programme which is being run in association with the Ministry of Youth Affairs.”

The IWF is an invitation-only global network of some of the most accomplished women in the world. We connect women leaders across every professional sector, all with a common mission of advancing women’s leadership and championing equality worldwide. Established in New York City in 1974, today IWF comprises more than 8 000 preeminent women leaders in 33 countries and 76 local Forums. The members include inventors, entrepreneurs, CEOs, heads of state, academics, scientists, astronauts, Olympic athletes, artists, filmmakers, financiers, and philanthropists.
(PR)