This week, I attended the Black Enterprise Women of Power Summit, a 3-day leadership conference that provides a unique opportunity for more than 700 women of color executives to retool and reconnect with their peers. The event is designed to help women executives think strategically about how to overcome challenges, leverage opportunities, and develop a unique set of leadership skills. I enjoyed being among my peers as an executive woman of color and I was incredibly honored to be recognized as one of BE’s Rising Stars 40 & Under.
Dell is excited to be partnering with Black Enterprise for this event and the upcoming Entrepreneurs Conference in May as diversity and entrepreneurism are essential elements of our corporate values, helping to shape our company culture. And, supporting women in business is core to our business strategy with key initiatives aimed at accelerating the increasingly powerful role that women play in driving economic growth and jobs worldwide.
Women-owned businesses are the fastest growing market segment worldwide and recent reports have pointed to these businesses both as the key to job creation and as the tipping point for a global economic comeback. At Dell we recognize that while women share a unique perspective and approach to business, its technology that enables businesses to use data and reach customers in unprecedented ways.
Our mission is to help people and organizations everywhere do and achieve more with the help of technology, so as part of our Women Powering Business program we’re sponsoring a series of regional networking events for women-owned and women-managed businesses. We want to listen to the top challenges and triumphs that business owners face and use that feedback to help them expand their networks, find valuable resources, and ultimately showcase how technology can enable innovation and growth in their businesses.
One aspect of Dell’s larger Women Powering Business initiative is the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN). The network unites top global women business owners in a vibrant entrepreneurial community both on and offline, celebrating their accomplishments and helping them access new fast-growth markets in support of their business objectives. The Network is includes a strong and active community online and is anchored by an annual invite-only event, which in 2012 will be held on June 17-19 in New Delhi, India. I encourage you to go to dell.com/women to learn more.
