International Women’s Day, a celebration of the spirit of womanhood, is the mark of a very long history of work done for women’s economic, political and social empowerment. Biz Divas observed Women’s Day, March 8 2014 by organizing Global Mentoring Walk in three cities across India with Vital Voices as Knowledge Partner and Bank of America Merril Lynch and Monster India sponsoring the event.
The Global Mentoring Walk convenes established women leaders and emerging women leaders to walk together in their community. As they walk, they discuss their professional challenges and successes to establish a mentoring relationship. The Global Mentoring Walk is an opportunity to highlight the importance of women’s leadership and to accelerate the impact of women leaders through mentoring.
Global Mentoring Walk Delhi/NCR had close to 60 women participate in a very relaxed and yet very invigorating interaction over walking. Held at the cultural hub of NCR, Epicenter, the walk brought together inspiring women from various professions. The cherry on the cake was a very candid conversation with keynote speaker Preeti Monga, Founder Director, Silver Linings Synergies & Silver Linings Trust who took a rapt audience on a roller coaster of awe, admiration, introspection and inspiration. Capgemini, Emaar MGF Land Limited, Valvoline, Nestle, Dell, Xerox, Bank of America, Mercer, Religare were some of the organizations that were represented at the event apart from a whole-hearted participations from freelancers and entrepreneurs working in diverse areas.
The Global Mentoring Walk 2014 Mumbai saw over 60 dynamic women from organizations and private concerns get together on a lovely Saturday morning. The fresh air, green grass and frisky horses at the Turf Club added to the atmosphere. The Mentors and Mentees took a 2.2 km walk on the jogging track and returned to a sumptuous breakfast. The interactive drama session with Steps Drama evoked strong reactions from the audience. The first scenario dealt with work life balance while the second dealt with issues faced by a woman manager as she tries to move up the corporate ladder. The audience came up with interesting comments and suggestions for both scenes. Some organizations represented at the walk were: SAP, Capgemini, Barclays, KhaitanCo, Blue Star, Mahindra, Bank of America, Nomura and L&T.
Women’s Day Global Mentoring Walk also served as the formal launch of Biz Divas Bangalore, the fourth Biz Divas chapter. The keynote speaker was Apurva Purohit, CEO – MBPL (RadioCity 91.1) and an author. Her message to all women participants was never to give up career at any point in life Working on creating a support system allows to have a career along with family life without sacrificing one or the other. She urged participants to always keep their eyes open for opportunities to expand their skill set and grow. It had over 50 women participants from Dell, HP, E&Y, Soc Gen, NMIMS, Bank of America, Capgemini, Tata Business Support, IBM along with women in business.
