WARSAW, Poland, Sept. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Vital Voices Global
Partnership and Bank of America today launched a weeklong mentoring
initiative in Warsaw, Poland,
inviting influential women executives from business, media and
civil society to mentor women leaders involved in business or
social enterprise who are at a tipping point in terms of their
professional and leadership development.
The initiative is the ninth gathering of the Global Ambassadors
Program (GAP) and pairs senior leaders with women entrepreneurs
from Central and Eastern European countries to discuss strategies
to grow and develop their businesses and nonprofit organizations
while navigating challenges experienced in regions with emerging
economies and developing democracies. The program, running
September 8-12, includes one-on-one
mentoring sessions, strategic planning and additional capacity
building workshops to build business acumen.
A reception at the United States Embassy of Poland with the Vital Voices Poland Chapter
will foster new connections between program participants and
leaders in government, business and civil society.
"Our goal is to address the needs of women
leading business and social enterprise in the
region," said Alvin Allgood,
COO of Vital Voices. "We're honored to work with women taking their
visions to scale and we're pleased to connect them to members of
the Vital Voices Poland chapter — a network of businesswomen and
professionals advancing economic opportunity for more than seven
years."
In Central and Eastern European countries, the transition from
the planned economy to the liberalized market economy has enabled
the formal recognition of entrepreneurship and the development of
women entrepreneurs. While women in the region have been able to
found and develop their own businesses, they continue to face
substantial professional challenges. In Poland, for example, women are estimated to
make the equivalent of 52 cents for
every dollar men make, representing one of the lowest ratios in the
world. In addition to these barriers to success, women must
navigate the challenges of unrest and even active conflict in their
respective countries. The economic empowerment of women is
especially critical in times of transition, helping to preserve and
rebuild countries facing social, economic and political
instability.
In Warsaw, senior women
executives will meet with women leaders from four Central and
Eastern European countries, including Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, to discuss opportunities for
leadership while navigating economic, societal and political
challenges facing their countries and communities. The women will
also attend a reception at the United States Embassy in
Poland to network with women from
the Vital Voices Poland Chapter, a partnership formed in 2007
between the Vital Voices Global Partnership and the Polish
Professional Women's Network (PWNet).The Chapter hosts mentoring
and leadership programs for women leaders from business, academia
and non-governmental organization sectors across Poland and into Eastern European countries,
including Georgia, Moldova, Belarus and Ukraine. The program will also include a site
visit to a mentee's business, allowing the Ambassadors and mentees
to see first-hand how a fellow woman entrepreneur is making an
impact on her community.
Eight Global Ambassadors (mentors) will be paired with
mentees.
The mentors are:
- Lidia Adamska, business
consultant, Lidia Adamska Business Consulting
- Sheri Bronstein, human resources
executive, Global Banking and Markets, Bank of America
- Anna Colton, Retail Banking
region executive, Metro New York/Mid-Atlantic, Bank of America
- Galina Melnikova, owner and
managing partner, HR Partners, Ltd. and the Open Door Club
International; partner, Institute OD and Change Management
- Beata Monka, owner, Business
Consulting BMBC
- Eileen O'Connor, Former CNN
Correspondent and Lawyer
- Beata Pawlowska, managing
director, Oriflame Poland
- Lorna R. Sabbia, head of Managed Solutions, Global Wealth
& Investment Management, Bank of America
The mentees are:
- Agnieszka Bilinska, CEO and
founder, Vital Voices Poland (Poland)
- Victoria Butsich, director, ITMINE (Belarus)
- Katerina Cronstedt, founder and
CEO, Katerina.ru (Russia)
- Olena Galushko, partner and
international development director, Association of Private
Investors (Ukraine)
- Joanna Janczycka, advisor to the president, ARMA (Poland)
- Elena Lyakh, head, Togliatti
City Agency of Economic Development (Russia)
- Tatiana Semikop, head of the Public Movement "Faith, Hope,
Love" (Ukraine)
- Natalia Skobnikova, CEO, DSF Logistic (Belarus)
"The Global Ambassadors Program fosters mentoring relationships
around the world to promote the success of women entrepreneurs who
are working toward a more prosperous and stable future for their
home countries, and further build a growing community of
international leaders dedicated to women's economic empowerment,"
said Rena DeSisto, Global Arts &
Culture and International Corporate Social Responsibility
executive. "We understand the importance of providing new networks
and access to women leaders, which are key factors in contributing
to the success of local economies worldwide."
The Global Ambassadors Program is part of Bank of America's and
Vital Voices' ongoing commitment to investing in women's leadership
development, a goal guided by the belief that strong leaders are
important to healthy, vibrant communities including advancing
economic growth. Over time, mentors help their mentees develop
critical communications, advocacy and business skills and
strategies to advance their work. Previous mentoring programs have
been held in Northern Ireland,
Mexico, Qatar, Singapore, Brazil, India, South
Africa, and Haiti. Future
locations will be announced this year.
For more information on the Global Ambassadors Program, visit
www.bankofamerica.com/globalambassadors.
Vital Voices
Vital Voices Global Partnership is a
leading non-governmental organization that identifies, invests in
and brings visibility to extraordinary women around the world by
unleashing their leadership potential to transform lives and
accelerate peace and prosperity in their communities. Founded by
former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton in 1997, the organization trains and mentors women
leaders as agents of transformative change in economic development,
human rights and political participation. The Vital Voices Global
Leadership Network includes more than 14,000 leaders representing
144 countries who have trained and mentored 500,000 additional
women and girls in their communities. Visit www.vitalvoices.org to
learn more.
Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial
institutions, serving individual consumers, small businesses,
middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range
of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and
risk management products and services. The company provides
unmatched convenience in the United
States, serving approximately 49 million consumer and small
business relationships with approximately 5,000 retail banking
offices and approximately 16,000 ATMs and award-winning online
banking with 30 million active users and more than 15 million
mobile users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth
management companies and is a global leader in corporate and
investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset
classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and
individuals around the world. Bank of America offers
industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business
owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products
and services. The company serves clients through operations in more
than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is
listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Visit the Bank of America newsroom for more Bank of America
news.
www.bankofamerica.com
Reporters May Contact:
Margaux
Bergen, Vital Voices, 1.202.333.1928
margauxbergen@vitalvoices.org
Noelle Bell, Bank of America,
1.980.388.6791
noelle.bell@bankofamerica.com
SOURCE Vital Voices Global Partnership