Women in Business

At the meeting 04 April Speaker Roseann Kelly, CEO, Women in Business NI, outlined their business culture and how they have grown over 14 years from 40 to around 2,500 Members today. She emphasised that there is a clear business case for diversity in business noting that women should be an integral and invaluable part of every business for when women are involved a business has better profits, decisions and productivity. She noted that women in business have faced many barriers but their mission and responsibility is to help women achieve their full potential by equipping women with the skills they need to start, and grow, their own business or develop their careers, rising into senior manager and leadership positions. To do this they run mentoring and business support programmes, Annual Conference and Awards all providing an opportunity to listen, motivate and celebrate together.

She noted that their 2015-2018 Strategy, which aims to increase membership to 5,000 by 2018, will cement WIB's legacy as Northern Ireland's most progressive and extensive business network. Their increased membership and 10,000 Twitter followers has given them increased status, advertising and sponsorship income and that they aspire to Create a New Economy whereby all females in Northern Ireland significantly contribute to the economic success. To this end have recently published their Manifesto highlighting 4 areas which they believe are crucial for NI to achieve its full potential and take its place on the global stage – Education, Diversity, Immigration and Female Entrepreneurship Programme. She concluded that NI is the only region of Europe without a government-funded female-specific enterprise support programme