The International Women’s Entrepreneurial Challenge – IWEC – awards are a joint project initiated by the Chamber of Commerce of Barcelona in association with the Indian Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI-FLO),the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce (MCC) and supported by The US Department of State. The purpose of the project is to promote a global dialogue on women’s entrepreneurship, exchange experiences; forge partnerships among enterprises and potential customers worldwide and to build personal contacts and networks among women’s business associations and individual entrepreneurs.

This year’s IWEC awards was hosted by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce in New York City. Three women business owners/awardees were chosen from India, three from Barcelona, three from Africa, our newest “continent” in the program, and three from NYC. The Awards Ceremony was held at the Harvard Club on Tues. June 2nd.

We thank our sponsors Etihad Airlines, HSBC, Action Carting, BSC Travel, Blackrock, Citibank, Crain's New York Business, Eisner Lubin LLP, Sovereign Bank, Rennert Bilingual, QED National, Weissman Center for International Business/Baruch, Spanish American Chamber of Commerce, State Bank of India, Port Authority of NY/NJ and from Spain, IESE and La Caixa Bank for supporthing this exciting conference!

2008 IWEC Awardees

Africa

Winnie Gitau - Founder & President, Pure Health Products, Kenya

Although she is a trained lawyer, Winnie discovered her passion for healthy living after stints at a law practice. She is the founder and president of Pure Health Products since 2003, a company that produces, packages and sells health products such as herbal teas, brown rice, and honey. Pure Health today is a corporate social responsibility organization that hires needy people and women from slums. The company has a children's corner with free childcare for its 73 employees, offers free education on healthy nutrition, gives 10 percent of company profits to its employees and ensures that its products are grown in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Cheyyann Bodington (Anni), Managing Director, TESA Palisade Fencing and Security Systems (PTY) Ltd, South Africa (www.tsafencing.com)

Ms. Bodington started a small fencing company which had a first month’s turnover of $4,000 with only 4 staff members. The company now employs 50 full time staff and 20 contractors, and 4 small black businesses are supported and sustained through the orders and cash flow of TESA Fencing. TESA Palisade Fencing and Security Systems deals with large construction companies as well as cell phone companies for their local and export orders. TESA not only manufactures steel palisade fencing, but also stainless steel and mild steel balustrades for high rise buildings and shopping centers.

Ibukun Awosika, MD/CEO, The Chair Centre Group, Lagos, Nigeria (www.sokoachaircentre.com)

Ibukun Awosika serves as Chief Executive Officer of Sokoa Chair Centre. She is an alumna of the Chief Executive Programme of Lagos Business School, as well as the Global Executive MBA Programme of IESE Business School, Barcelona Spain and sits atop a multi-million business today.

Confronted with poor facilities and declining social infrastructures, Awosika started designing furniture components and arranged for companies abroad to produce the designs which she then brought into the country in large volumes and assembled. She stamped her ingenuity on the industry by tasking her team to create from a few imported components, a variety of finished office furniture designs. In addition, she introduced the ergonomic chairs as well as the bank security doors into the Nigerian market. All of these culminated in increasing her market share astronomically as well as maintaining her leadership in the industry.

In line with her export promotion drive, Ibukun has not only taken The Chair Centre beyond the shores of Nigeria to set up an operational base in Accra, Ghana, she has also been servicing other West African markets such as Mali and Niger Republic. In furtherance of this move, they are set to open two new stores in the Tinapa Business Resort as a vehicle to reach the African countries in that region.

Awosika’s plans for the future include setting up a furniture village in conjunction with the Ogun state government, south-west Nigeria, that will serve as a rallying point for all small, medium and big players in furniture business in Nigeria. Additionally, Sokoa Chair Centre intends to continue to increase its market locally while expanding their export reach within the African region, with a plan to break into the European and American market as a result of the facilities which would have been created by the Furniture Village.

India

Nalini Sharma, CEO, Nalini Sarees (www.indiabizclub.com)

Nalini Sharma began a business making sarees and salwar kameez suits under the name of Nalini Sarees which has shops in Delhi and Mumbai. The company has diversified into exports and is presently selling to over 19 countries all over the globe. The company is also running a state of the art textile mill in the outskirts of Delhi with production capacity of over 1.5 million mts. of fabric a month.

In early 70’s she started with a small unit in the house and today she has over 450 people working doing designing, dyeing, printing, embroidery, fabrication all under the same premises. Over the years she has made over 2600 fabric designs and has restored hundreds more Indian as well as French designs and incorporated them in sarees as well as salwar kameez. She regularly produces 4 in an average new fabric designs a week and produce them in her garments so that there is always a new look to her clothes without losing on its individuality.

A mother of three and a grandmother of four children she regularly practices her dance in the morning before heading to work.

Deepika Jindal, Austenitic Creations Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi (www.artdinox.com)

Deepika Jindal brought elegance and classic style to steel by creating high-end lifestyle products. She is the Managing Director of Austenitic Creations Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Jindal Stainless Ltd. headquartered in New Delhi, India. The company manufactures lifestyle products in Stainless Steel under the brand name ‘art d’inox’ showing an exponential growth rate.

Artd'inox is India's first branded Stainless steel accessories manufacturer and retailer. In an endeavor to promote art in stainless steel, she has her own art gallery 'The Stainless' where eminent artists can showcase exclusive contemporary art through the medium of steel and various other media.

Mrs. Deepika Jindal's compassion towards the underprivileged speaks through her pioneering social projects for the upliftment of community in and around Hisar .She is the chairperson the O.P. Jindal Cancer Hospital and of the of NC Jindal Institute of Medical Care & Research, a 250 bed Multi speciality hospital. She is also the Chairperson of the following two schools in Hisar, OP Jindal Modern School and Vidya Devi Jindal School.

Vidhi Singhania, Proprietor, M/S VIDHI (www.vidhi.org)

Vidhi grew up with a fondness of Indian Classical music and Indian textiles, cherishing the Sari as the most versatile and dignified mode of dressing.

She works closely with the weavers of Kotah and helped them revive the textile into a contemporary fashion statement with her intrinsic stamp.

Her passion for handlooms translated into further research and experimentation that led to her rendition of silk weaves from Beraras Varanasi. She has also forayed into weaving from Chanderi in Madhya Pradesh.

Vidhi sees herself first as a revivalist of Indian handlooms and then as a designer. She adds value to her weaves by combining Indian craft techniques like leheriya, block and bagh printing, batik and Zardoni to enhance her lines. Vidhi’s passion and determination with regard to handlooms had enabled her to bring it to the fulfillment of her goal of improving the lives of weavers and their families of Kotah, Bernaras and Chanderi handlooms, which hitherto was considered as a dying art.

New York City

Sneh Mehtani, owner, Mehtani Restaurant Group (www.MehtaniRestaurantGroup.com)

Arriving in the United States from Delhi 37 years ago and seeking opportunity, Sneh Mehtani bounced from job to job (makeup artist, airline sales rep) until 1983. Since then, with hard work and perseverance, she has built a restaurant empire with eight Asian restaurants, a catering business and more to come! She has catered affairs in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and India and her hospitality has been enjoyed by Presidents, Senators, Members of Congress and many celebrities as well as her core customer base.

"My motivation, my passion, has always been giving strength, giving good to my community," she says. Mehtani waves a hand in the air, as if that doesn't capture what she means. "Sometimes I lose the words," she says. Last year, the New Jersey Restaurant Association honored Mehtani with their "Gold Plate" award for exceptional service in the restaurant industry; in 30 years, Mehtani is the first Indian, and one of five women, to receive the award.

Leni Schwendinger, Leni Schwendinger Light Projects, LTD (www.lightprojectsltd.com)

Leni Schwendinger Light Projects LTD creates lighting environments for architectural and public spaces all over the world. These works energize architecture, landscape and infrastructure with the ultimate objective of connecting people to each other and to their surroundings. For over a decade, her Light Projects studio has been a magnet for professional multi-disciplinary collaborations - with project-specific design teams staffed by architects, engineers, and graphic designers committed to Leni Schwendinger's vision and perfectionist mandate.

Light Projects studio has enjoyed extensive press and media coverage. Leni Schwendinger has lectured and taught widely throughout the United States, Europe and Japan, and is currently on the faculty of Parsons School of Design; Architecture, Interior Design and Lighting Department, in New York City.

Donna Childs, Childs Capital (www.chidscapital.com

Donna Childs is the founder and chief executive officer of Childs Capital LLC, a Wall Street financial services firm dedicated to catalyzing prosperity in the poorest communities. Recognizing the success of building Childs Capital, the National Association of Women Business Owners named Childs as the winner of its “Signature” Award.

Childs graduated from Yale University with a bachelor of science in molecular biophysics and biochemistry. She holds a master of arts degree in international economics and finance from Brandeis University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

She is a member of the Owner President Management Program Class of 2007 of the Harvard Business School. Childs is a co-author of “Contingency Planning and Disaster Recovery: a Small Business Guide” (Wiley, 2002). She serves on the Board of Examiners of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program and was named to the “40 Under 40” list of “Crain’s New York Business.”

Spain

Maria del Pino Velazquez, Unisono (www.unisono.es)

María del Pino Velázquez is currently the General Manager of Unísono Soluciones de Negocio, a multinational company specialised in providing personalised and quality customer services.

Prior to the establishment of Unísono, María del Pino Velázquez worked as Customer Services Director at Vodafone. Because she felt that companies at the time were unable to provide what she was looking for, she decided to create a company capable of meeting the customer care needs -both in terms of technology and human resources- of modern companies.

After securing funding for the project, she set up Unísono in June 1999, and the company has gone from strength to strength ever since. As a result, and because María del Pino had set her sights on the international arena from the outset, Unísono now has 8 operations centres in the following countries: Spain (2 in Madrid, 2 in Vigo and 1 in Gijón), Chile (2 in Santiago de Chile), and Colombia (1 in Bogotá).

Today, Unísono, which started out as a company providing telemarketing and call centre services, is firmly established in the market and is one of the leading companies in the call centre, business process, telemarketing and consultancy sectors.

Unísono currently has 4,700 employees. Its turnover was 70 million euros in 2007, which represented an increase of 30% over the previous year, when turnover was 54 million Euros, and is the highest turnover since its establishment in 1999.

Nani Marquina, Nanimarquina (www.nanimarquina.com)

In 1974, after a collaboration with the Selles-Marquina Architecture Studio, Ms. Marquina opened her own shop, Self-Décor, where she carried out interior decoration projects. In 1984 she presented her first designs in prints and rugs for different textile design companies and, the same year, won awards. Creating the nanimarquina brand in 1987, she launched her company specializing in the design and edition of textile articles for the home, placing a particular focus on rug designs. In the same year she developed and introduced her collection concept to the market. In 1989 New York’s MOMA shop chose to feature her Begonia collection. Her design pieces are included in a number of diverse collective design exhibitions some of which include: Primavera del Disseny (International Design Festival Barcelona); Women Made\ (Women in Design) Catalonia and Balearic Islands; Pasión. Diseño Español, Berlin, Vienna, Salamanca; Arte=Diseño=Arte, Zaragoza; Objectar, Barcelona; 100% Catalan Design, Berlin, New York, Moscow. In 2002, she reassumed management of the commercial distribution of her brand, continuing to garner numerous awards. In 2006 she was awarded with the Premio FIDEM a la Mujer Emprendedora 2006 (FIDEM Award to the Businesswoman 2006), the Premi Cambra a la Gestió del Disseny 2005 (Chamber Award of Design Management) and the National Design Award 2005. Since 2006 she has been President of ADP (Professional Designers Association).

Nuria Basi, Basi S.A. (www.armandbasi.com)

Nuri Basi has twenty years of professional career experience in R&D centers of the pharmaceutical area. After graduating with honors in Biological Science, she became President of BASI, a family business founded in 1948, which designs, manufactures and commercializes textile pieces and complements with a license in Spain for LACOSTE, and ARMAND BASI as its own brand. All of the products are distributed among its own network of shops and franchises, multi-brand stores and department stores in Spain and abroad.

Armand Basi has a turnover of $118,000,000 euros per year and has its own industrial organization, implementing information technology to communicate with both suppliers and customer, and uses internal management and stock logistics software. Basi currently has showrooms in Antwerp, London, Moscow, New York, Singapore, Taipei, Barcelona and Madrid. They also export 40% of their Armand Basi products, to 25 countries: 17 in Europe plus the United States, Canada, the Lebanon, Jordan, China, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore.

These winning companies spent the week of June 1-4, 2008 in New York City interacting with other women business owners, discussing best practices in going global and participating in the awards ceremony. Other NYC women owned businesses were invited to participate in the conference and the audience consisted of women business owners, sponsors and guests during the conference events held at the Asia Society and the Indian Consulate here in Manhattan.

Please see the MCC Photo section and MCC Video section for full coverage of the event coming soon.

"Nancy, just wanted to say thanks and to congratulate you and your staff on all that you did to make IWEC 2008 a success. It took a great deal of work, I know, and it paid off handsomely.  I look forward to India 2009. Take care and thanks again."