Women Impact Network was founded in 2020 by Maureen Ada-Leonard, who is also the Managing Partner/Chief Executive Officer of EtiNard Consulting Nigeria, Ltd. Maureen has well over 19 years of corporate experience in Strategic Planning, Customer Services, Marketing and Business Development, and is passionately involved in empowerment and capacity development programmes for women in Nigeria and Africa at large.

I am delighted to support Maureen Ada-Leonard, founder of EtiNard Consulting Nigeria Ltd, and her initiative Women Impact Network (WIN), a gender-focused professional career group for women, designed out of a desire for women development, mentoring and empowerment. Thank you, Maureen, for being a TEF Mentor from 2015-2018, mentoring so many African entrepreneurs!

With the COVID-19 pandemic, many WIN was enthusiastic towards supporting their members chart a new course of life and achieve new ways of thinking and doing business. WIN organised different programmes and engagements that reflected the happenings of the year and that resonated deeply with how to pivot and win amidst the pandemic. Many women who attended gave feedback and expressed a desire for more sessions, which allowed WIN to assess its impact.

WIN’s aim is to develop The Total Woman, one who has what they tag the C-P-G factor – Confident, Poised and Globally oriented. This is achieved through carefully selected engagement sessions with leading and well accomplished women in business and various careers who are poised and willing to inspire and motivate other aspiring women through their teachings and life experiences.

A major outcome from the programmes organised in 2020 was the need for women to embrace change, digitization, and innovation. These conversations are strategic and germane for professional women and women in business because the new normal is a world of digital opportunities – preparedness for this is key and necessary. With evidence-based reports on the critical shortage of women in digital spaces, WIN plans to consolidate their efforts with a number of engagements in 2021.

Women Impact Network plans to help women embrace digital skills and innovative tools as key drivers of businesses. There is critical shortage of women in the digital space globally – and the statistics are even worse in Africa. WIN believes an intentional strategy for engaging, learning, and mentoring women will address this gap and impact digital literacy skills in Nigeria significantly.

In addition, WIN will implement effective micro-insurance schemes to serve as a bridge to effective financial inclusion and wealth protection strategies. WIN believes that the apathy for insurance in Nigeria is based on a trust deficit in the sector, resulting in low insurance penetration and appreciation, as well as poor wealth protection. Creating effective micro-insurance will also require it to be digitally driven and targeted at attracting the micro-sectors of the economy. The micro, small and medium scale enterprises is where the number is and where potential for growth and the vulnerable in the society lie.

WIN has selected these programmes carefully to bridge identified gaps and enlighten women on the new vista of opportunities they can embrace during the year.