International Women’s Day at the Women’s Enterprise Hub

On International Women’s Day, 8th March, the Women’s Enterprise Hub hosted an event to celebrate the achievements of local women in enterprise and business.

Sarah Crawley, Chief Executive of iSE (Initiative for Social Entrepreneurs) and the driving force behind Women and Enterprise introduced the event by listing some of the opportunities and resources available through the Women’s Enterprise Hub. Located on the Ladypool Road, it is a space for women to get advice and support with starting and developing their businesses. Women can take advantage of meeting space, hot desking facilities and the Hub even houses a number of women-led businesses.

The guest speaker the West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, who spoke generally about gender equality in senior leadership positions. He highlighted the Mayoral Office’s ‘Leadership Pledge’, a commitment to ensure that there is a 50:50 split in leadership within the Mayoral Office.

Imani Clough of Imani Academy spoke about her own experiences in entrepreneurship in Birmingham and in Togo. Imani Academy aims to empower women and girls, particularly those with experience in the care system or young offenders. Ayesha Rehman shared her story into business – from abandoning her chosen career path into setting up her own skincare and make-up business, based in the Women’s Enterprise Hub.

The panel was opened up to others to ask questions about the future of women in enterprise and the challenges we face in gaining true gender equality – in representation, pay and career progression.

Guests were able to network over food provided by ChangeKitchen, another local female led Social Enterprise, currently based at the Jericho Centre on Edward Road.