Women in Social Enterprise

Women are making a difference in every field! It is great to see women role models in social enterprise. Here are some ways you can learn more about what some inspirational women are doing to make a difference in the world.

An interesting talk on Supporting Women in Social Enterprise organised by Convergence, a new type of network, designed to enable people collaborate for the greater good, or just use other members to let off steam!
When: 24 April 2012, 6:00-9:00PM
Where: Charterhouse Bar, 38 Charterhouse Street, London EC1M 6JH
Who: Giulia Corinaldi, Mentoring Programme Manager for the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
Servane Mouazan, Founder and Director of Oguntê and Make a Wave PI, a pre-incubator for women social entrepreneurs.
Click here to register:

MyBnk's 5th Birthday Celebration. Attend this to meet an inspiring women social entrepreneur who founded MyBnk, a finance and enterprise charity working with young people in schools, colleges and youth organisations. Lily is a good friend, World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and Startup Leadership Program Fellow.
When: 15 May 2012, 6:30-9:00PM
Where: Southbank Centre, London SE1 8XX
Who: Lily Lapenna, Founder and CEO of MyBnk
Cost: £90
Click here to register:


UCL Awards for Enterprise will honour a new generation of enterprise, bringing together academics with businesses and investors.
Would be interesting to see who wins the UCL Social Enterprise Project of the Year Award.

When: 17 May 2012, 6:15 PM onwards
Where: UCL Bloomsbury Theatre, 15 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AH
Click here to register

Do let me know if you attend any of these events. Would be great to hear your feedback on the event.

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs

Interesting article by Women 2.0 on 10 Rules for Brilliant Women to take on their next big role. Make a pact with yourself, imagine the life you want to create and question the voice that says "I am not ready yet"

Here are a series of seminars by Everywoman, everything from personal branding to motivation to networking to building growth hosted at the Business 2012, UK's biggest business show.

When: 18th - 20th March 2012
Where: The O2, London
Cost: Free

Another opportunity to meet some inspiring female entrepreneurs is at the Reception for Astia 2012 Global Entrepreneur Program. The Astia team of Sharon Vosmek, CEO of Astia, Simone Brummelhuis, VP Europe will be there to welcome you.

When: 19th March 2012, 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Where: PWC, Abacus House Castle Park, Cambridge CB3 0AN
Cost: Free


Let me know if you found these useful and what other events you are planning to attend that empower women entrepreneurs.

Celebrations

Two events to celebrate the International Women's Day and the Startup Leadership Program Fellows graduation:

An all women's brunch to celebrate International Women's Day. This features new startup brands run by female entrepreneurs. Be inspired by a variety of vibrant new businesses and the women leading them. Engage with guest speakers and panel-led discussions to discover how to make the most of your own life and career. Also, indulge in beauty treatments, personal style sessions, and many more treats on the day!

International Women's Day Brunch
When: Saturday, March 10, 2012 from 9:30 AM to 1:00 PM
Where: Home House, 20 Portman Square, London W1H 6LW
Cost: £35
Speakers: Founders of the following brands: Muks, Bitch-online, American Girl in Chelsea, Off to see My Laywer, Astrid & Miyu, Choc Chick, The Collective Dairy, The Designer Lookbook, The Fold London, G'Nosh, Girl Meets Dress, Learnflow, The Life Stylist, Louise Dungate, Nine Muses Lifestyle, Pouring Pounds, Quintessentially, Raw to Door, Save Your Sole,  Stone Beauty: 


After six months of classes and workshops, sixteen Fellows will graduate from the Startup Leadership Program. A highly selective, global training for CEOs of startups in tech, clean tech, life sciences and social sector. It has been an amazing and inspiring journey for these startup CEOs, some of them have already raised seed money while others are in the fundraising process.

Startup Leadership Program Graduation Party
When: Saturday, March 10, 2012 from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Where: The Exchange, Fielden House, 28 London Bridge St, London SE1 9SG
Cost: Free
This is a private party for the Startup Leadership Program Fellows, mentors and advisors.

Do let me know your feedback if you attend any of these events.

Launch of new things...

Yesterday was the last class for the SLP London 2012 Fellows. They got to pitch to eight VCs/Angels and get valuable feedback. Key takeaways for me were:

1. Simple and clear articulation of the problem and the solution
2. Why you and your team are the right people to provide this solution
3. Have a clear understanding of the market opportunity, competitors and going to market strategy

These are important lessons for all new startups or those who are looking to start their own venture.

Tomorrow I am attending the launch of the National Generation Finance Consortium.

Date: Thursday, 8 March 2012 from 09:00 to 12:00 (GMT)
Location: Cass Business School, EC1Y 8TZ London


Another interesting event where six female entrepreneurs share their stories is:
Founder Exchange III: Female Founders Share Turning Points of Growth
Date: March 8, 2012 from 6:30pm to 9pm
Location: Clerkenwell Workshops, Downstairs, 27/31 Clerkenwell Close, London EC1R 0AT

Speakers:  Swati Bhargava, Founder and CEO at Pouring Pounds

Dessislava Bell, Founder at Zaggora

Sarah Hilleary, Founder at Birubi Ltd & b tempted foods
Kathleen Alder, Founder & Director at WildKat PR
Nataliya Grigorova, Founding Director at Dancebuzz
Nina Lauc, Creative Director at Star of Croatia

Do let me know if you are attending any of these events. Please share your comments and feedback on what you got out of it.

What Inspires You?

“Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and about what makes the universe exist. Be curious. And however difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don’t just give up.”
[from Stephen Hawking's 70th birthday statement, 8th January 2012]

I am passionate about empowering women and social entrepreneurship. Below are two events that are happening today to inspire people to lead and change the way we do business.

London Business School 12th annual Women in Business Conference
Where: The Royal Society
When: 8am - 7pm
Cost: £75
Speakers:
Cherie Blair, Founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women
Helena Morrissey, CEO of Newton Investment Management & Founder of the 30 Percent Club
Marcella Casati, Managing Director at Barclays Capital
Karalee Close, Partner at The Boston Consulting Group
Fiona Dawson, President at Mars Chocolate UK
Mary Meaney, Partner at McKinsey & Company
Syl Saller, Global Innovation Director at Diageo Plc
Patricia Hewitt, Former UK Secretary of State for Health
Christine Langan, Head of BBC Films
Sarah Sands, Deputy Editor of The Evening Standard
Bindi Karia, VC/Emerging Business Lead at Microsoft BizSpark
Swati Bhargava, Co-founder and CEO of Pouring Pounds
Amanda Collins, CEO of Save Your Sole
Sophie Cornish, Co-founder and Managing Director of notonthehighstreet.com
Nuala McGovern, Presenter and Producer of BBC's World Have Your Say
Sue O’Brien, CEO of Norman Broadbent


To hear about Investors and Entrepreneurs: Working together for ‘returns beyond profit’ attend the EMEA final of GSVC where 12 finalists will pitch their business idea:
2012 Global Social Venture Competition EMEA Final
Where: London Business School
When: 11:30am - 7:30pm
Cost: £20
Speakers:
Rodney Schwartz, CEO of Clearly So
Paul Cheng, Head of CAF Venturesome
Andres Falconer, Managing Director of Ashoka
Clara Barby, Head of Impact at Bridges Ventures
Hani Qattan, Founder of Paces Charity
Theresa Burton, Founder of BuzzBnk
Andrew Stordy, Founder of Ikawa Coffee

Link and Learn - How It All Started

I know many friends who are thinking of starting a business or are trying to grow their startups. So whenever I come across interesting events that could benefit them, I send them invites. Similarly, my friends invite me to events that they think would be useful for me. So I am starting this blog to keep track of interesting and useful events that help launch and scale startups.

I invited 10 of my friends who I thought could benefit from the 85Broads networking event on 29 Feb 2012. Those 6 that came to the event, found it interesting and made some new friends and business contacts. Yes, this is a leap year! It is a reminder to many of us that we can take that leap of faith and start new businesses.

Bootstrapping Bootcamp  
Where: Roberts Building, UCL, London WC1E 7JE  
When: Thu, 1 March, 18:30 – 20:30
Who: Lead and facilitated by: Salim Virani, Founder of Leancamp and 5 startups.

Angels Den London SpeedFunding Event 

Where: Edwards Wildman, 69 Old Broad St, London, EC2M 1QS

When: Thu, 1 March, 15:00 – 20:30

Who: selection of Angels

Please email me  if you know of any interesting events that would benefit others.