It has been a busy year for the Netwomen™️ team, and we thought it only fitting to delve a little deeper as to what we achieved, and some highlights, over the past year.
At the beginning of 2022 Netwomen™️ consisted of CEO, Pinky Ghadiali, and 8 Ambassadors. Since then, it has grown to over 10 Ambassadors and Michelle de Almeida joining the business as Corporate Director.
In February Pinky was selected as part of a cohort of 5 tech companies to visit Silicone Valley in San Fransisco to speak with, and meet, other people in the sector there.
Pinky Ghadiali, CEO, had this to say about the trip:
“Being selected to go to Silicon Valley with a cohort of Scotland’s tech entrepreneurs was an honour and a privilege. It was a great experience and wonderful opportunity to spend time in the world’s largest tech community.”
Over the year, Netwomen™️ welcomed women from all ethnicities to network with other likeminded women at over 40 online networking events. There were three different themes of events held every month:
Group Coaching (first Tuesday)
This is for all women to join in with each session looking at something that can help women in business. An opportunity to chat about the topic and to think about how looking at it in an alternative way could help them to achieve their goals.
Peer Support (second Thursday)
In this session everyone is given the opportunity to talk about an issue that they are facing. Advice is given from the facilitator, and also from their peers. We are all women in business, and sometimes hearing from someone else, who has faced those issues, can be a bug help in overcoming any challenges arising from it.
Global Collaboration (last Tuesday)
This event saw two organisations coming together, bringing members from each and thus expanding their networks. A guest speaker each month offered some insight into their world in business and how they have got to where they have. A very inspiring session, always with lots of takeaways.
All of these sessions will be running throughout 2023. They are free for members, or you can pay a one-off cost to join the event. If you have never been to one before then you are welcome to join your first one for free – keep an eye on our LinkedIn events pages for how to get in touch to book a free place.
We also partnered with other organisations to bring Netwomen™️ to local in-person events in Scotland.
These events brought together multicultural women from various industries to network and expand their knowledge on subjects such as gender pay gap, diversity, equity & equality, and more.
Extremely well received, we will be looking to build on our partners and locations in 2023 as we continue our pledge to eradicate gender bias in the workplace.
Pinky was also asked to speak at events and deliver courses on important subjects such as ‘Imposter Syndrome‘ and ‘Inclusive Leadership‘ for corporates. The feedback was incredible and just shows how much this is required. Pinky has since been booked to deliver more in 2023 and would be happy to talk to anyone looking for this to be delivered at their event or workplace.
During the course of 2022, Netwomen™️ developed and launched a series of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and Leadership Team Training programmes. As with the workshops, these have had excellent reviews and will be delivered throughout 2023 and beyond.
In November of 2022, Netwomen became incorporated in the USA. Our website (www.netwomen.us) is live for anyone interested in working with us there and our Ambassador team consists of 8 ex-corporate women based in USA, Canada, Brazil and the UK. This was a highlight for Netwomen™️ as we continue to strive to make the workplace a true gender equality place to be.
Finally, we wanted to finish on not just one, but TWO awards that Pinky Ghadiali, CEO, picked up for Netwomen™️.
In October she was awarded the ‘Global Women’s Empowerment Initiative’ at the Prestige Awards in Edinburgh, Scotland.
In their words:
“The Prestige Awards team is committed to identifying market leaders, innovators and enterprising start-ups through in-depth research, word of mouth and first-hand experience. We also encourage external nominations via online visitors, social media followers, clients and colleagues. Nominations should champion the best in their respective fields, representing the pinnacle of business achievements.”
This is an incredible honour to have not only been nominated, but to win, this award, especially in the category of Global Women’s Empowerment Initiative.
In December, Pinky went to London, UK, with Corporate Director, Michelle de Almeida, to receive her award for being one of the ‘Tech Women 100’ by Barclays and We Are The City.
The TechWomen100 Awards recognise the impact of individuals, companies and networks that are leading the way for future generations of tech talent. This award garnered entries from over 1,000 women and was whittled down to 200 finalists.
Again, Pinky was honoured to be in amongst those numbers and was proud to collect the award on behalf of the entire Netwomen™️ team.
It really has been an incredible year for Netwomen™️, and on behalf of Pinky and the entire team – we would like to thank you for being a part of it, no matter whether that has been from the start or just reading this blog.
We look forward to continuing and growing our relationships in 2023 and beyond, and of course our mission to create equity and celebrate equality.