The highly acclaimed and prestigious Women in Leadership (WIL) has honoured the most inspiring female professionals in the country at the 8th edition of the Inspiring Women Award. The grand award ceremony took place at Radisson Blu Dhaka Water Garden on March 9, 2024. A total of 26 female professionals, including Leaders of Tomorrow (aspiring students), have received the accolade in 11 categories.  13 Winners and 13 Honourable Mentions were declared during the gala.  Inspiring Women Award is a part of Akij Tableware Presents 5^th WILFest, Powered by RFL Houseware, in Association with SQUARE Food & Beverage Ltd. & The Daily Star. This year’s WILFest also celebrated 10 years anniversary of Women in Leadership

This year’s theme of the WILFest was “Pursuit of Women’s Economic Independence.” WILFest 2024 dived deep and explored the multifaceted ways to seek the different possibilities for women to achieve economic independence. Only after women of all walks have achieved a path to economic independence, they will be able to ensure and establish their empowerment in different work sectors and in their own lives. This edition of WIL talked about this timely theme, narrated the journey of female professionals and, most importantly, recognized them with their deserving respect.

This year, the esteemed accolade received an overwhelming number of nominations from across the country. More than 250 entries were received from 100+ organizations and institutions under 11 categories. Three jury panels of the country’s top category experts and renowned professionals selected the winners and awarded them in two levels – Honorable Mentions and Winners.

During the opening speech, Nazia Andaleeb Preema, President, Women In Leadership – WIL said, “The Inspiring Women Award is very important for any professional woman to be recognized. Through this recognition, they are now more visible to others to see their potential and enormous possibilities. The WIL Inspiring Women Award not only rewards the deserving but also creates a sustainable growth policy and supportive parameters for women’s empowerment within organizations.”

For a decade now, WIL has been encouraging professional women to pursue leadership in their careers. The Inspiring Women Award was first given in the year 2014 and since then, the underlying message of Inspiring Women’s Award is to officially recognize women’s efforts in the growth of the country; to empower women professionals and create role models in society (at both individual and the organizational levels).

Earlier, before the Inspiring Women Award gala, Women in Leadership- WIL, hosted the 7th Women Leadership Summit, another vital part of this year’s WILFest.

Under the theme of “Pursuit of Women’s Economic Independence,” the exclusive summit brought together Corporate and Development sector top executives, Government Employees, Academicians, Artists & Activists, Prominent Thought Leaders and Policy Makers to share insights, experiences, and thoughts on women empowerment and generate learnings.

The summit featured an engaging agenda comprising 02 Keynote Sessions, 04 Panel Discussions, 01 Insight Session and a special session by WIL’s President Nazia Andaleeb Preema celebrating WIL’s 10 Years Journey.

In the opening speech, Nazia Andaleeb Preema, said, “This year’s fest focused on how WIL can help and push females to pursue economic independence through empowerment. The festival has brought context to different segments of knowledge & learning to activate the concentration on the core theme from diverse angles & dimensions.”

The keynote speakers of the summit were: Prof. Tulsi Jayakumar, Executive Director, Centre for Family Business & Entrepreneurship, S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, India; and Dr. Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir, Professor & Chairman, Department Of Development Studies, University of Dhaka.

Other Respected Speakers for the summit include prominent professionals like Zara Jabeen Mahbub, MP, Member, Standing Committee, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Dimitra Nikolopoulou, Performance Artist, Greece; Zahida Fizza Kabir, CEO, Sajida Foundation;  Md. Tajdin Hassan, Chief Business Officer, The Daily Star; Saad Jashim Area Head of Talent, Culture & Inclusion – APMEA Central, British American Tobacco, Bangladesh; Nazim Farhan Choudhury, Managing Director, Adcomm Ltd.; Professor Imran Rahman, Vice Chancellor, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh; Nazia Andaleeb Preema, Visual Artist, President, Women in Leadership (WIL) and many other distinguished professionals.

The summit revolved around multifaceted and timely topics like How Women Leaders Can Help Achieve Smart Bangladesh, Redefining the Future of Women, What organizations look for in Future Employees and Digital Ushering New Window For Identity And Personal Branding.

Bangladesh Brand Forum organised the Akij Tableware Presents WILFest 2024, Powered by RFL Houseware, in association with SQUARE Food & Beverage Ltd. & The Daily Star; Strategic Partner: grow n excel; Bangladesh Creative Forum; Technology Partner: Aamra Technologies Limited; Media Partner: Ekattor Tv; Samakal; PR Partner: Backpage PR; Artistic Partner: Preema Arte Foundation. WILFest 2024 is an initiative of Women In Leadership (WIL).