Women in Leadership (WIL) hosted a women leadership summit, or WILFest 2024, in association with Akij Tableware, RFL Houseware, SQUARE Food & Beverage Ltd. and The Daily Star at the Radisson Blu Water Garden on Saturday.
The 5th edition of WILFest included the 7th Women Leadership Summit, the 8th Inspiring Women Award and Berger Paints Presents WILArt 2024 Supported by Shwapno. This year’s WILFest also celebrated 10 years anniversary of Women in Leadership.
This year’s theme of the WILFest was “Pursuit of Women’s Economic Independence.” WILFest 2024 dived deep and explored the multifaceted ways to seek the different possibilities for women to achieve economic independence. Only after women of all walks have achieved a path to economic independence, they will be able to ensure and establish their empowerment in different work sectors and in their own lives. This edition of WIL talked about this timely theme, narrated the journey of female professionals and, most importantly, recognized them with their deserving respect.
The exclusive summit brought together Corporate and Development sector top executives, Government Employees, Academicians, Artists & Activists, Prominent Thought Leaders and Policy Makers to share insights, experiences, and thoughts on women’s empowerment and generate learnings.
The summit featured an engaging agenda comprising 02 Keynote Sessions, 04 Panel Discussions, 01 Insight Session and a special session by WIL’s President Nazia Andaleeb Preema celebrating WIL’s 10 Years Journey.
In the opening speech, Nazia Andaleeb Preema, said, “This year’s fest focused on how WIL can help and push females to pursue economic independence through empowerment. The festival has brought context to different segments of knowledge & learning to activate the concentration on the core theme from diverse angles & dimensions.”
The keynote speakers of the summit were: Prof. Tulsi Jayakumar, Executive Director, Centre for Family Business & Entrepreneurship, S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, India; and Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, Professor & Chairman, Department Of Development Studies, University of Dhaka.
In her Keynote speech Dr. Tulsi Jayakumar said, “Gender is a social construct embedded in organisational practices dominated by masculinity. Women face barriers at macro, meso, and micro levels, including societal expectations and organisational biases. Economic independence is crucial for women’s empowerment. Thus, building confidence is essential.”
Other Respected Speakers for the summit include prominent professionals like Zara Jabeen Mahbub, MP, Member, Standing Committee, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Dimitra Nikolopoulou, Performance Artist, Greece; Zahida Fizza Kabir, CEO, Sajida Foundation; Md. Tajdin Hassan, Chief Business Officer, The Daily Star; Saad Jashim Area Head of Talent, Culture & Inclusion – APMEA Central, British American Tobacco, Bangladesh; Nazim Farhan Choudhury, Managing Director, Adcomm Ltd.; Professor Imran
Rahman, Vice Chancellor, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh; Nazia Andaleeb Preema, Visual Artist, President, Women in Leadership (WIL) and many other distinguished professionals.
The summit revolved around multifaceted and timely topics like How Women Leaders Can Help Achieve Smart Bangladesh, Redefining the Future of Women, What Organizations Look for in Future Employees and Digital Ushering New Window For Identity And Personal Branding.
Bangladesh Brand Forum organised the Akij Tableware Presents WILFest 2024, Powered by RFL Houseware, in association with SQUARE Food & Beverage Ltd. & The Daily Star; Strategic Partner: grow n excel; Bangladesh Creative Forum; Technology Partner: Aamra Technologies Limited; PR Partner: Backpage PR; Artistic Partner: Preema Arte Foundation. WILFest 2024 is an initiative of Women In Leadership (WIL).
