3-day WIL FEST to be held marking Int’l Women’s Day

Staff Correspondent: Women in Leadership (WIL) will hold the first ever WIL FEST on 8-10 March at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in the capital on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

The announcement came at a press conference held at a city hotel on Tuesday.

Speaking at the press conference, WIL President Nazia Andaleeb Preema said, “Through emotional intelligence, women own themselves and therefore they are visible from family to nation building. That makes them strong to be the pillar of our society. WIL Fest looks forward to bring all the inspiring women under one roof and show path to the rest and younger ones.”

Syed Alamgir, the managing director of ACI Consumer Brands, said, “ACI Consumer Brands always try to empower women by providing various products to cater their daily needs. Our product ‘Freedom Sanitary Napkin’ empowers women to be their best. We are very happy to get associated with WIL FEST 2018.”

Among others, Shariful Islam, managing director of Bangladesh Brand Forum and Samia Zaman, editor and chief executive officer of Ekattor TV also spoke on the occasion.

The theme for WIL FEST 2018 is Owning and Visibility. Owning is referred as the confidence and self-belief of a female which is the most critical component for any professional female to succeed in her field and reach her potential. Visibility refers to how a female is perceived by the key part of society – family, partners, colleagues, friends, society in general.

Presented by Freedom Sanitary Napkin, WIL FEST 2018 will be comprised of Women Leadership Summit, Inspiring Women Award, Freedom of Choice Exhibition, Startup Talk and several other components.

Each component will be held simultaneously throughout the three-day long fest after the opening at 10:00am on Thursday (March 8, 2018). The fest is open for all and there is no entry fee required.

This year, the Women Leadership Summit will consist of 3 Global Keynote Speakers and 3 Interactive Panel Discussions that will unite the voices of women from across the nation and provide them with a platform to address the multiple issues regarding women leadership and its challenges.

Alongside, discussions on various other topics will also be conversed aiming to make the women of our society, develop and discover themselves – that ultimately makes them visible to the society. These discussions will be led by various professional institutes and individuals.

Keeping in mind about the professional growth of women to create their own space in the society, and mark their positions in the corporate industry, a three-day training program will also be organized. These trainings will be taken by Lighthouse Bangladesh, Grow N Excel, and BOLD.

There will be a showcasing for startups to facilitate growing ventures by female entrepreneurs or ventures that focus on services for women. This zone will showcase the concept behind these startups and how they empower or provide service to women in our society. The Startup Talk will facilitate interested women willing to learn about the challenges and opportunities from the female entrepreneurs.

This year, to engage both the youth and creative people, two unique campaign ideas were given to universities and creative agencies. Each of the institutes had to come up with their way of presenting “Women Empowerment” or “Female Biasness” in our society through these campaigns. Two winning campaigns will be awarded on the final day of the fest on the occasion of Inspiring Women Award 2018.

This fest will also include zones of entertainment divided into a female centric art exhibition that will tell stories of women’s lives, challenges, success and many more through photography, garment and visual art. The other zones will include live art workshop, Musical Performances and Performance Acts.

To enrich the creative skillset of the enthusiastic female filmmakers, there will be a workshop by the School of Slow Media (SoSM) which is based in Philippines. This workshop is particularly for creative media professionals. It aims to transform leaders, creatives and change makers into mindful listeners and effective storytellers and will also take sessions. Through immersive experiential learning in Southeast Asia, SoSM will attune one’s storytelling skills, refuel their creativity and reconnect them to the humans at the heart of every story.

The three-day long fest will end with the 4th Inspiring Women Award to be held on the evening of 10th March 2018. The underlying message of Inspiring Women’s Award is to officially recognize women’s efforts in the growth of the country; to empower women professionals and create role models in society (at both individual and the organizational levels).

WIL FEST 2018 is presented by Freedom Sanitary Napkin. The fest is an initiative of Women in Leadership (WIL) and organized by Bangladesh Brand Forum. The fest is supported by Rangs Toshiba. Partnering with the initiative are Grameenphone, Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (MCCI) Dhaka, Foreign Investors Chambers of Commerce & Industry, Google Business Group Dhaka, Startup Grind, and Women Techmakers Bangladesh. Also supporting the fest are – Strategic Partners The Daily Star and Colors FM; Innovation Partner Whiteboard; Leadership Development Partners BOLD, Grow N Excel and Lighthouse Bangladesh; Media Partner Ekattor TV, Lifestyle, Next Step; Youth Engagement Partner Shout, Radio Partner Radio Today; PR Partner Masthead PR, Digital Partner Melonades, Branding Partner Terracotta.


risingbd/Dhaka/Feb 27, 2018/Shaon/AI