Social Change and Economic Opportunity: Empowering Women Leaders from the Middle East & North Africa and Eastern Europe

Zoë Dean-Smith, Senior Director, Global Programs

Next week in London marks the 12th in our series of Global Ambassadors Program mentoring initiatives, a Vital Voices and Bank of America partnership that connects women leaders — at a pivotal point in their professional, business and leadership paths — with established women executives for mentorship.

We have a very special program planned February 22-26. Women entrepreneurs and NGO leaders will convene in London, England from countries in the Middle East & North Africa and Eastern Europe. Some of these countries have faced a number of challenges, including humanitarian crises, ongoing conflict or the rebuilding of economies post-conflict. Their business and organizational challenges are compounded by obstacles such as insecurity, restricted mobility and fractured communities. I look forward to sharing insights learned from my own lifelong commitment to strengthening women’s entrepreneurship and economic opportunity, starting in my home country of Swaziland, throughout Africa and across the world.

In London, 11 mentees will pair one-on-one with 11 senior women leaders in business, banking and finance, and media for mentorship and trainings tailored to meet their specific challenges and build skills in organizational and financial management, strategic planning, marketing and communications. Watch our video to see the program in action.

Public forum

On February 25, Bank of America and Vital Voices will host a public forum, “Women, Progress and the Global Economy,” featuring experts and thought leaders for discussion of the role of women in peace and security. CNN’s Christiane Amanpour will kick off the forum with a keynote address and interview with Bank of America Vice Chair Anne Finucane. The idea for the public forum comes on the heels of UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki-moon’s declaration at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last month that empowering women economically is a “global imperative.” Panels will also address women and economic growth and the power of mentoring and women’s leadership. Watch the livestream and join the conversation at #WomenLead.

Join the conversation

We’ll be blogging from London and posting photo galleries each day — follow along and be sure to tweet questions to @VitalVoices and @BofA_News using the hashtag #GlobalAmbassadors. You’ll hear from mentors and mentees directly about what they hope to learn as part of the Global Ambassadors Program. Stay with us!

GLOBAL AMBASSADORS	MENTEES
Ahu Serter President, Farplas Group	Lamice Joujou               CEO, My Doll & Me
Alyazia Ali Al Kuwaiti Director, Midstream & Upstream Investment, International Petroleum Investment Company (IPIC)	Irma Daushvili General Director & Founder, DIO Ltd.
Amel Bouchamaoui Hammami Chair, PNB-NAPEO	Tinatin Rukhadze Co-founder & General Director, Analysis & Consulting Team (ACT)
Iman Wadi General Manager, International Elevators Group “Schindler”	Tatyana Mikayilova Managing Partner, RED Communications
Jennifer Boussuge Head of Global Transaction Services, EMEA, Bank of America Merrill Lynch	Zeynep Harezi Business Development Director, Karpowership
Jessica A. Oppenheim Managing Director, Bank of America	Biljana Dakić Đorđević Executive Director, Trag Foundation
Kim Kingsley Chief Operating Officer, POLITICO	Khadija Idrissi Janati Founder & CEO, KMK Groupe
Laura Cox Kaplan Principal-in-Charge of U.S. Public Policy, PwC	Meryam El Ouafi Founder & General Manager, Chemsayour Ltd.
Reiko Hayashi Member of the Board, Managing Director, Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co., Ltd.	Aline Kamakian CEO & Co-founder, FIG Holding
Michelle “Shelley” Wright Brindle Executive Vice President, Domestic Network Distribution, HBO	Shani Aloni Executive Director, Haifa Rape Crisis Center (HRCC)
Galina Melnikova Owner, HR Partners, Ltd. Owner, MakeItWork.Ru	Velma Šarić Founder & Executive Director, Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC)