| Aziz Idris |
THE Changing Faces Women’s Leadership Seminar (CFWLS) carrying the theme ‘Women as Innovators And Entrepreneurs’ was held in Honolulu and Kona, Hawaii, from June 19 to July 2.
Launched in 2002, the CFWLS provides an opportunity for innovative women entrepreneurs to enhance their leadership skills and entrepreneurial capacity.
This year, the seminar comprised of 14 women from 11 countries from Asia, the Pacific and the United States.
During the 12-day intensive training, dialogue and travel programme, participants engaged in a series of workshops focused on leadership and entrepreneurship that are facilitated by a noted women’s leadership trainer and the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Shidler College of Business.
Jodie S Y Lim is the Chief Marketing Officer of Nurture Enterprise and one of the lucky Bruneians to partake in the seminar.
She runs a start-up business that focuses on sustainable agricultural space seeking to provide design practical solutions to increase farming productivity in Brunei.
By attending the seminar, it has helped her strategise the business and be mentally focused on the core objectives.
“I had the opportunity to learn about social entrepreneurship, a relatively new concept in Brunei, as well as learn how to develop a business module and the financial aspect of social entrepreneurship,” she told reporters yesterday during an interview.
Jodie S Y Lim, the Chief Marketing Officer of Nurture Enterprise, with the newly appointed Public Rela-tions Officer at the US Embassy in Brunei Darussalam, Catherine Muller
Jodie with the other CFWLS participants. – PHOTOS: AZIZ IDRIS & US EMBASSY
She added that the seminar provides training and consultative sessions to help participants develop and actually use a concrete Action Plan for the betterment of their business or the community.
According to Jodie, the site visits opened her eyes to real business environments and given her the opportunity to engage with youths with one common objective – to help the community.
Other participants came from various backgrounds and experiences, in various phases of businesses, but all related to giving back to the community.
Participants are individually matched with local women leaders in a host mentor programme and, in return, the Changing Faces participants act as mentor for a select group of high school students from a local all-girls school in a Next Generation Service Project.
“The whole interactions with other participants have also helped me better improve my business module. All the sharing sessions provided me with useful knowledge that can be used locally,” she said.
Participants also expanded their knowledge of entrepreneurship, economic growth, leadership and community-building through carefully selected field visits and meetings with experts, practitioners, business owners, and policymakers in Hawaii.
“Coming back from the seminar, I learned that businesses doesn’t necessarily need to focus in making money, but can also be focused on how to help the community. Most businesses in Brunei focus only in generating profits, but there are a lot of ways on how you can involve the community,” explained Jodie.
During the site visits, Jodie was impressed with several companies in Hawaii that helps single mothers earn a living and business that employs youths with disability and helps them become women leaders.
“The programme allowed me space to really think about why our company exists and how it can better serve our greater community… Am thankful for the support from the US Embassy for sending me to this eye-opening seminar.”
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