VANCOUVER, British Columbia—Two members of the Global Women’s Leadership Network will be receiving $10,000 grants—but which two is still to be announced.
Four GWLN “scholars” gave presentations during an event held prior to the World Credit Union Conference. The four scholars originally submitted Empowerment Grant proposals as part of the 2022 GWLN Scholarship nomination process but were unable to attend the 2022 World Credit Union Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, due to visa issues related to COVID-19.
Making Their Pitches
The 2022 GWLN Scholarship recipients who made their pitches were:
- Dorothy Mambulasa, Malawi Union of Savings and Credit Co-operatives, Ltd., who made a virtual presentation on increasing access to both finances and solar energy products at Fincoop SACCO.
- Enkhchimeg Nergui, partnership specialist, Mongolian National Confederation of Credit Unions, who made a presentation on creating a local business ecosystem that allows credit union members that are part of yak and sheep herder communities to diversify their income and promote eco-friendly and sustainable cashmere production.
- Violet Ndungu, CEO, Muki Sacco (Kenya), who made a presentation on promoting the commercialization of dairy farmers through strengthening and capacity building, increased dairy production, promoting new feed production technologies, and improving access to savings and loans for women and youth on dairy farms.
- Polly Gathoni Waweru, Unisa Sacco Society Limited (Kenya): on creating a training program to promote women credit union empowerment by growing female membership, competencies’ building and leadership opportunities.
Voting Underway
Each scholar got 15 minutes to make their pitch, with three presenting in person and Mambulasa submitting a video presentation.
“Attendees were encouraged to vote based on the creativity of each proposal, and how it addressed financial inclusion, sustainability, planning and the connection to GWLN,” said Eleni Giakoumopoulos, director of Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN).
The results will be announced after the 2023 World Credit Union Conference.
Athena Award goes to Ocampo
Ida Rosette Ocampo received the 2023 Athena Award during Saturday’s GWLN Reception at WCUC 2023.
Ocampo, who is chief officer for administration at Barangka Credit Cooperative in the Philippines, began her GWLN journey at the 2017 World Credit Union Conference, according to the organization.
GWLN noted Ocampo has since established the Barangka Credit Cooperative Sister Society and worked through the cooperative and the Sister Society to “foster professional development and network building to advance leadership training, facilitate financial-stability centric webinars for their members, and to secure a gender balance in governance” by targeting the diversity on boards and within executive leadership to better mirror Barangka Cooperative’s member base.
“I will continue my work to empower women in credit unions along with the mission of GWLN,” said Ocampo. “I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be part of this network and to work with so many talented and dedicated men and women leaders. I’m excited to see what the future holds for the global credit union movement, and I am confident that, together, we can make a difference.”
Strength, Courage, Wisdom
According to the organization, the Athena Award is inspired by the goddess of Greek mythology who stands for strength, courage, and wisdom and is presented to an individual or organization making an outstanding contribution to women's leadership in the international credit union movement.
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