African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program Panel and Reception at Meridian
On Thursday, September 22, Meridian International Center hosted 35 women entrepreneurs from Africa for a panel discussion and evening reception. The visitors were in the U.S. as participants in the African Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP), a program that is administered by the U.S. Department of State and Meridian.
Approximately 75 people took in a keynote address on the importance of advancing the place of women in African society, given by The Honorable Vivian Lowery Derrick, President and CEO of The Bridges Institute. The distinguished panel included two members of the AWEP delegation, Wade Channell, Economic Growth Advisor in the Office on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and Dr. Eyerusalem Siba, Research Fellow for the Africa Growth Initiative at The Brookings Institution. Moderator Christina Haradaway, Gender and Entrepreneurship Officer in the Bureau of African Affairs, led a discussion focused on sustaining AWEP chapters and the importance of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)
Following the panel, the delegation and honored guests retired to Meridian’s gardens for refreshments and remarks from The Honorable Ambassador Laurie Fulton, Meridian Trustee and former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, Peter Barlein, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs, and Julia Santucci, a Senior Advisor in the Office of Global Women’s Issues.
The AWEP group began their program in Chicago and then split by sector to travel to eight unique U.S. cities. The program closed in Washington, where the group attended the AGOA Forum at the State Department.
