Women entrepreneurs’ conclave held in Gangtok with participants from Brazil & U.S.

ISABELLA GURUNG

GANGTOK, : With the aim of connecting, collaborating, and celebrating the power of women-led businesses in shaping a more sustainable and inclusive future, the Women Entrepreneurs Conclave was jointly organized by AGAPI Sikkim, in collaboration with ALSiSAR IMPACT and Bradley University’s (USA) Empowering Women Globally (EWG) initiative, here in Gangtok Monday.

The conclave was attended by women entrepreneurs from the world’s largest democracies i.e. India, Brazil, and the United States of America. The purpose of the conclave is to build a community, share practices, and exchange ideas, especially for women entrepreneurs in the Himalayan region.

Dr. Mary Conway Dato-on, Turner Chair of Entrepreneurship and Executive & Academic Director at the Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Bradley University, informed that the Conclave 2025 in Sikkim will host women entrepreneurs from the US, Brazil, and India.

“The Empowering Women Globally program was established 15 years ago for education and entrepreneurship. The program brings female scholars and students to Bradley University to exchange insights into social entrepreneurship. Empowering Women Globally is an international train-the-trainer initiative that supports female entrepreneurs in expanding and strengthening their businesses. The initiative connects entrepreneurs with students, who act as mentors. Together, they focus on the development and growth of the entrepreneurs’ purpose-driven companies. Through the EWG initiative, students are matched with women entrepreneurs, working together to build lasting relationships,” said Mary.

She further informed that the EWG came to India 10 years ago and to Brazil 6 years ago.

Dr.Sharmistha Banerjee, Professor of Business Management at the University of Calcutta, India, shared that the EWG initiative started in Kolkata in 2015 when students from Calcutta University connected with entrepreneurs, and later expanded to include entrepreneurs from around the region. The program is now set to expand beyond West Bengal, with Sikkim being the most appropriate location.

“The Conclave is a 10-day program that started in Kolkata. The inaugural session was a formal event, followed by a visit to Shantiniketan to explore available crafts in Bengal that have potential. To scale up the conclave, research papers were published. In the last three days, the delegates are in Sikkim. The conclave will conclude tomorrow,” she said.

ALSiSAR Impact founder Anuj Sharma expressed that the organization wants to put Sikkim on the global entrepreneurship map. “Sikkim is the first victim of climate change, and there are many stories and voices that need to be heard. Academicians and practitioners have come together in Sikkim with the aim of building an ecosystem. Through this dialogue, all of us can contribute. Women are at the forefront, especially in Sikkim, and we are here to find scalable models and momentum to move forward,” he said.

ALSiSAR Impact Private Limited (“ALSiSAR”) is a leading transaction advisory company focused on impact investing in South Asia. ALSiSAR is headquartered in Mumbai at the World Trade Center, with a presence in Bangalore. Promoted and co-founded by ASCo, ALSiSAR and ASCo have directly and indirectly worked with 600+ social enterprises based in India, the USA, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Australia, the UK, Nepal, and Myanmar, as well as 60+ impact investors, foundations, and private equity/venture capital funds. The company has a special focus on frontier markets and conflict zone-focused social entrepreneurship and enterprise-building initiatives. ALSiSAR is actively working in India, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan, the USA, the Netherlands, and Singapore.

AGAPI Sikkim founder Rinzing Choden Bhutia and co-founder Varsha Shrestha shared that the initial challenges faced by the company were a valuable learning experience. They encouraged others to take a leap forward.

AGAPI Sikkim is a sustainable brand creating handcrafted and natural skincare products. The aim is to produce beautiful, healthy skincare using the finest ingredients sourced locally and globally. AGAPI currently has over 300 women beneficiaries and has impacted over 1,500 lives in just a few years since its inception in 2019. In 2022, it partnered with the Commerce and Industries Department, the Women and Child Commission, and the Sikkim State AIDS Control Society, and became a proud, official vendor at the G20 Summit in 2023. Committed to upholding the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the brand is continuously working to alleviate poverty, unemployment, and domestic abuse in its wake. Today, AGAPI is more than just a large line of indigenously and locally sourced beauty and healing products (from soap bars to bath oils to creams)—it is a relentless movement.

AGAPI Sikkim made history by becoming the first woman-led company from Sikkim to have its advertisement displayed on the iconic Times Square billboard in New York City in May 2024.