TIMES: What is Women in Business about and when did the organisation begin?
DR ALI: WIB is a not-for-profit business association, which works for the promotion and encouragement of the commercial participation of women in all sectors of business and commerce. WIB provides assistance through business skills workshops for women already in or seeking to start a business. It also equips women with the skills required for development and growth of their businesses or their personal executive and commercial occupations such as managers and executives.
Through its various networking activities such as its luncheons and regular get together it provides women with a platform to exchange skills with each other and to grow. So our objectives can be broadly defined into two categories:
One, to promote women in leadership in commerce . This we do through our annual business awards, which is now a hugely successful event.
The second is to provide support to the smaller women owned businesses through our workshops and mentorship. Here women who are either existing or potential business owners can seek assistance from us.
So while our main aim is to promote the corporate commercial sector we provide complementary services to those other organisations who are aimed at the small enterprise. We recognise these as essential as today’s small business is tomorrows large business.
WIB hopes to see many more large women-owned businesses through our existence and our work. WIB began in 1998.
TIMES: What are some achievements of the organisation since its inception?
DR ALI: While WIB has had a few stops and starts throughout its life because of the turbulent political climate of Fiji we have made huge strides in the promotion of women in the business and commercial world.
We now can see visibly the larger numbers of women in managerial capacities and even chief executives, but we need to keep working on getting more CEOs.
CEOs are at the top of organisations and we need women to occupy these positions in larger numbers, both for local organisations and those international businesses operating in Fiji.
TIMES: How many members are part of the organisation?
DR ALI: We have more than 150 members, some of whom are through corporate membership. The executive is run by a group of seven women who do this on a voluntary basis. The secretariat is run through my office.
TIMES: How is the organisation funded and how much does each member contributes in terms of membership fees?
DR ALI: Our funding comes from sponsorships; corporate and international donor agencies. Our networking and skills exchange events-lunches and after-work events are funded by corporate sponsorships. The Australian High Commission also hosts us once a year. Our workshops are funded by international agencies such as the NZ High Commission.
We now have a considerable level of support from various organisations and individuals. For instance our judges for our business awards are all volunteers and give their time to us.
TIMES: Why is it important to have an organisation such as WIB?
DR ALI: Fiji is still struggling with women in leadership positions in the corporate commercial sector. We still have a long way to go to achieve a woman at the level of governor at the Reserve Bank or the CEO of FRCA or for that matter a CEO of an international bank such as Westpac. WIB is therefore necessary to keep the focus on the need to increase the numbers of women in commercial enterprise, be it owners or women who work in that sector.
The needs of women are different as they also have other societal roles such as mothers and therefore their working style and environment has to include that aspect of their life.
Through its various activities WIB keeps the focus on this uneven representation of women in lead roles. There is need for a deeper understanding of how to get women into these roles and trust them with the responsibility and indeed work with them and take them seriously.
TIMES: What are some issues constantly faced by the organisation, in terms of meeting its aims and objectives?
DR ALI: Because we do all the work on a voluntary basis by giving of our own time we find it difficult to find sponsors and volunteers who have the same passion and drive to do the required work.
Another very real challenge is our varied membership and attendance at our workshops — from very small to larger businesses. Added to that is the lack of statistics on women-owned businesses and women employees.
WIB would ideally like to have a business resource centre for women. This centre will provide training and support to women. It can also be an intermediary for financing to small business start-ups.
TIMES: How has the organisation tried to address those issues?
DR ALI: By continuing to do what we do — that is to provide business skills enhancement and opportunities to exchange ideas and experiences.
TIMES: Has the organisation made an impact on its members or society regarding its aims and objectives? If so, please explain.
DR ALI: We believe and indeed can see that we have had impact at a general level in changing societal attitudes towards women.
For instance we are told at our workshops that some men are encouraging their partners to come out and attend these to improve their skills. This is a definite change in conversation compared with 10 years ago when men used to question the importance of such skill enhancement for women, confining them to the home-making role.
Such change encourages and motivates us to do more. You see the fundamental fact of life is that if women become better at what they do the family necessarily does better.
Yes, WIB has provided to our members and many women a platform to converge and exchange skills. Such convergence then allows for increasing numbers of women owned enterprise albeit small.
