Izah Azahari
Progresif Sdn Bhd launched its Progresif Women’s Future Academy at the Cultivate Bistro of the Progresif Headquarters yesterday. The launch was held in conjunction with International Women’s Day 2020
The event is the first of its kind in the country, aimed at empowering and encouraging women’s professional and personal growth on a higher level through an 18-week coaching session.
This was revealed by Big BWN Project/Womennovation Brunei founder Noorhafizah binti Haji Rashid, alongside Progresif Sdn Bhd Head of Brand Strategy Hafizah binti Mohamad and Life and Business Coach Lisa binti Dato Paduka Haji Ibrahim at the launch.
The coaching session is designed to help women identify their goals and full potentials, while building their business and a life that is more profitable and sustainable for their future.
The academy aims to help transform challenges into possibilities by working with women business owners to achieve clarity, focus and take action towards designing and building a business and a life they love.
Lisa binti Dato Paduka Haji Ibrahim (C) speaks at the event. PHOTO: BAHYIAH BAKIR
“We thought that being in 2020 we should be doing something much more impactful, especially for women around the country,” said Noorhafizah. In partnership with Womennovation Brunei – a local women empowerment initiative under Big BWN Project, the participants will be coached by Lisa, an internationally recognised Associate Certified Coach (ACC) under the International Coach Federation (ICF) as well as a Certified Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).
No stranger to the local business industry, Lisa has over 20 years’ experience running companies as well as entrepreneurial ventures. She has now embarked on her coaching career.
Lisa added that they want to improve the life of women in Brunei as there are opportunities aplenty out there, and not necessarily jobs. Lisa will help equip them with the tools and confidence, as well as the focus and drive to actually start a business of their own.
As a company dedicated to giving back to the community, Progresif has made every effort to support innovative and new initiatives with the hopes of creating positive societal outcomes. With education as one of Progresif’s four key CSR pillars (alongside Environment, Arts and Culture, and Entrepreneurship), supporting Brunei women’s life and career development is a worthy cause for Progresif to throw its support behind.
“This year we want to focus mainly on the ladies because in the era of feminism and also women empowerment, we feel that it fits in very well with this project,” said Hafizah.
“Our first quarter magazine discusses over 20 women in Brunei, through a section called ‘Letter To My Younger Self.’ It talks about women empowering, being in a business or corporate world, how growth is, and how to build confidence among the younger girls in Brunei, therefore fitting into our CSR strategies,” she added.
With the creation of the Progresif Minds educational platform and hosting the Youth Empowerment Conference last year, Progresif has reaffirmed its commitment, enabling education and life-long learning in all demographics, by working alongside Big BWN Project.
The first cohort is open to four candidates, at a minimum age of 23. Applications open on March 12, with the deadline set for March 21. The Progresif Women’s Future Academy is in line with Progresif’s CSR pillars for education and entrepreneurship, and is under the Progresif Minds platform.