Lankan Angel Network launches #IAMHER Programme to empower female entrepreneurs

The Lankan Angel Network (LAN) recently launched the #IAMHER 2021 programme, aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs and developing the landscape for women-led startups via a multi-pronged strategy. It was launched at the LAN-hosted, “Beyond the Cape” event held at Hatch and supported by ecosystem partner Ford Foundation.

The event also brought together women leaders across several sectors to discuss their journey and discuss how communities and corporates can be better at empowering women and bring us closer to gender parity in Sri Lanka, LAN said in a media release.

The #IAMHER programme will focus on addressing key challenges faced by women entrepreneurs through a multi-pronged strategy revolving around creating awareness about women entrepreneurs and women-led start-ups, helping develop core business knowledge (e.g., financial literacy), and boosting the use of technology to improve day-to-day operations. The first initiative of the #IAMHER 2021 programme – Her Brand – was launched at the event. This initiative seeks to bring together three different communities to collaborate and co-create, leveraging each segment's strengths to address several challenges.

“We want to empower more girls through LAN’s #IAMHER initiative by showcasing their talents as videographers and entrepreneurs, as well as the range of activities that WIN does as an organization. Through this initiative, we want to create awareness, build engagement while celebrating some tremendous entrepreneurial success stories,” said Kavindi Wijesekera, Head of Social Enterprise at Women in Need.

The panel at the #IAMHER 2021 online discussion comprised Zahra Cader, Director of International Development Assistance at PwC, Sharmila Ragunathan, Executive Director and Director of Engineering at Haycarb PLC, Kavindi Wijesekera, Head of Social Enterprise at Women in Need, Dr. Sulochana Segera, Chairperson of Women In Management, and was moderated by LAN Board Member Anarkali Moonesinghe.

While speaking on her journey, Sharmila Ragunathan, Executive Director and Director of Engineering at Haycarb Plc., touched on the importance of looking beyond hiring to simply fill quota systems to build more diverse teams. “I do not believe in quota systems. When looking to hire someone to do a job, you have to look at the individual’s qualifications and their fit within the role you’ve envisioned. It’s not about hiring someone to fill a quota or tick a checkbox. Fresh thinking can make for a stronger team.”

Global research shows that companies with at least one female director have better share price performance and return on equity, and companies with more than one woman on the board returning as much as 3.7% a year over those that have none. “Diversity and inclusion isn’t simply a programme or a label – it’s about creating a sense of belonging within an organization. Where you feel that everyone has a voice, that what you do is valued and different opinions are respected. This requires a change in culture and mindset at every level along the corporate ladder, and at every stage in the corporate process, from hiring to retaining to promoting,” said Zahra Cader, Director of International Development Assistance at PwC.

Women In Management Chairperson Dr. Sulochana Segera agreeing with these sentiments and spoke more about why empowerment needs to be better defined. “Too often empowerment is seen in terms of charity. Empowerment has nothing to do with charity, it’s a responsibility, it’s about finding your path and your vision. We believe that empowerment has to happen very early on – both within family life and at school, where girls are empowered and encouraged to be confident in their skills and abilities.”

Above: The panel at the #IAMHER 2021 online discussion comprised (from Left to Right): Kavindi Wijesekera, Head of Social Enterprise at Women in Need, Sharmila Ragunathan, Executive Director and Director of Engineering at Haycarb PLC, Anarkali Moonesinghe, Board Member of LAN, Dr. Sulochana Segera, Chairperson of Women In Management and Zahra Cader, Director of International Development Assistance at PwC.