Georgian Delegates Participate in Women of the Future Summit in UK

Often regarded as the “Mini Davos” for future female leaders, the Women of the Future Summit was held from November 16-18 in London, gathering over 300 participants from over 24 countries, with the theme of ‘The World in 2025,’ exploring how the world’s economy, security and tools of influence will change in the coming decades.

Founded eleven years ago by Pinky Lilany, CBE DL, author, motivational speaker and women’s advocate, and organized in partnership with the Foreign & Commonwealth

Office and Wilton Park, the Summit brings some of the most influential women from around the globe to participate in the Women of the Future Program.

The Program incorporates the WOF Awards, WOF Summit, WOF Ambassadors and WOF Network, a portfolio of events and projects in which, through discussions, meetings and conferences, the delegates have an opportunity to network, share their experience and build successful professional partnerships for the future.

The Women of the Future Awards is a special event held during the Summit that celebrates the achievements of women in arts, business, enrepreneurship, media, science, real estate, technology and digital, sports and public service. Cherie Blair, spouse of Tony Blair, former UK Prime Minister, is a patron of the Women of the Future Awards.

It was on the initiative of Mako Abashidze, Founder-Director of the British Georgian Chamber of Commerce (BGCC), that the Summit had Georgian delegates participating for the first time this year.

“I attended the Women of the Future program last year, and was so impressed and made so many useful contacts, that immediately after I started to discuss with founder Pinky Lilany the idea of bringing a Georgian delegation to participate,” Abashidze said. “The top level of the business and political leaders speaking at the events was very inspiring for the Georgian delegates and I am glad that they found the experience so useful, practical and inspirational.”

Ekaterine Maisuradze, CEO of the International Relations Center and Union of Business Ladies (from Tbilisi, Georgia) was a member of the Georgian women’s delegation invited to the WOF Summit. “I was truly delighted with the opportunity to participate in the Summit,” she said. “There, we had a chance to meet women from over 27 countries- top professionals from different spheres. When you’re in business, it’s very important to establish new contacts and we had that opportunity. Overall, it was a great experience, for which I would like to thank the organizers of the event and Mako Abashidze primarily for offering us this excellent chance.”

Another participant, Sophie Ibbotson, Board Member and Consultant of the British Georgian Chamber of Commerce, who was nominated and shortlisted for the “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” award, also says that the event was an excellent networking opportunity: “Working as an advisor to the British Georgian Chamber of Commerce, and with the Georgian National Tourism Agency, has given me an invaluable cross-cultural perspective in business. I was thrilled to be nominated for the Entrepreneur category by Mako Abashidze, and inspired by the judges, speakers, candidates, and other attendees I met through WOF. I’m looking forward to future engagement as a WOF Ambassador and to using the platform to bring women together across borders,” Ibbotson said.

“Participation in this series of inspiring and eye-opening events organized as part of the ‘Week of Women’ was thrilling and invigorating for me personally,” said Manana Gabechava, Director of Transtransit Ltd. “The connections I made and the stories I heard from the participants and motivational speakers, and the WOF Summit in particular, were indeed the best reflection of the great value of networks of this type, enabling women to excel in their personal and professional lives and to strengthen their long-term impact.”

“The inspiring speeches delivered at the Women of the Future Summit by leading professionals, coupled with the Awards ceremony, served as a wonderful opportunity for me to share with my colleagues back home women’s work worldwide and its far reaching impact,” said Nana Tsiklauri, Director of the Strategic Projects and Reforms Department of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia.

Tamar Beruchashvili, Georgian Ambassador to UK said: “It indeed presented new opportunities for Georgian female leaders from the government and private sector to meet outstanding like-minded professionals from different countries in a friendly and genuine atmosphere, not to mention giving them the opportunity to listen to some fantastic guest speakers. It was also a very good occasion to present their own success stories and introduce Georgia to a very prominent audience. The Embassy of Georgia in the UK is ready to support this initiative and to work together with BGCC to bring this format of partnership to Georgia,” she said.

Nino Gugunishvili