Celebrating women in business

ANOTHER year, another WIN (Women Invigorating the Nation) Convention and fingers crossed, another sell-out crowd of women in business, corporates and supporters gathering to celebrate at the tail end of what is usually a month-long hive of purple-themed activities, festivities and civil awareness dedicated to women from all walks of life, from the kitchen to the boardroom.

As is tradition, the WIN 2026 Convention will be held at the end of March (March 27 and 28) at the Grand Pacific Hotel (GPH) and according to its organisers, they want to deliver a Convention that is “purposeful, inclusive and impact-driven.”

“Over the past five years, WIN has grown into a respected national forum that brings together women entrepreneurs, business leaders, policymakers and strategic partners with a shared purpose: to move beyond dialogue and deliver tangible outcomes that create lasting economic and social impact, with each Convention building on the outcomes of the last,” WIN organiser WEBC (Women Entrepreneurs Business Council) chair Jyoti Maharaj said at the launch of the event in Suva early this week.

WEBC is one of the nine councils under the Fiji Commerce & Employers Federation (FCEF) and specifically advocates for the interests of women-owned businesses, so its members are women entrepreneurs.

Now into its fifth year, the WIN Convention is WEBC’s premier event for advancing women’s economic leadership and growth.

“Our theme for 2026, ‘Give to Gain: Investing In Women, Transform Our Future’, reflects a fundamental economic and social truth; when women are invested in, the returns are transformative,” Ms Maharaj said.

“There is a very good story that I would like to say is that one of our entrepreneurs Sea & Soil had done a presentation at WIN Convention 2025 and the French Ambassador Ms Julie Le Saos, was attending the Convention and she noticed that Sea & Soil’s business journey was all about empowerment of women, its commitment to social and eco-friendly innovation and she sponsored Sea & Soil to attend an event called Viva Tech 2025 in Paris. They attended and they won the Tech for Change Award.

“So you can see how attending WIN gives you connection from domestic to international…so I encourage everyone to please attend. This forum is about learning, this Convention is about sharing and this Convention is about empowering women and getting policy makers to maybe change a few policies that may be affecting women, in their business, in their health, whether it’s climate change which is a very hot topic right now.”

Participation however is not limited to just women – the door is wide open for the male counterparts.

“This is not just a forum for women, this is a forum for everyone, we want to work in partnership with the male counterparts too so, get in early,” Ms Maharaj said.

Climate action meets women-owned businesses

The organisers have also taken it upon themselves to turn WIN into a platform for climate action and awareness. The birth of its Green Star Award in 2023 happened under the previous WEBC management.

“In 2023, we decided to undertake a requirement to establish a policy mainly around sustainable business practices, so we engaged a couple of our members in that space doing consultancy and it was approved and known as the Green Policy,” WIN 2025 organising committee chair Sharyne Fong told this newspaper last year.

“In 2024, we decided ‘look we got this policy, what more can we do?’, and we knew that our members were already being sustainable. “That gave us an idea and then we came up with, okay, next year, which is this year (2025), we will recognise and award our members for being sustainable businesses,” Ms Fong said.

The inaugural winners of WIN’s Green Star Awards were Tikosaya Ledua of Ledua Art Collections and Shajit Bala of Be Pro Marketing Fiji.

This year, the stage is again set for more gender-responsive climate action.

“This is our major focus because we will be giving out a Green Star Award, and we want mostly businesses who are into ‘green’, working with the climate, climate sustainability, etc, to come forward and apply for these awards, so that we can recognise these businesses,” WIN 2026 organising committee chair Dr Swartika Nair said.

“It’s important for us to focus on this and if you know that you are working in the Green Star area, please apply for the awards.

“This is the second year. Last year we had a winner and it has encouraged and elevated that winner so much in terms of doing more for the climate.

“So if you’re in that area, you want to join, these are the three areas we’ll be focused on while judging you: 1. Recycling – recognising strong waste reduction and circular economy practices; 2. Energy – focused on energy efficiency, renewable use, measurable climate impact. And 3. Sustainable Future – Recognising initiatives that support long term outcomes such as biodiversity, education, research and responsibility.

“And we want more and more women to come out here in front and apply for these awards. We want to recognise them and give them a platform as well because we are focusing more on climate action and how we are mitigating it as women entrepreneurs,” Dr Nair said.