Cherie Blair Foundation's Women Mean Business Conference in Mumbai on the 8th of December 2010

The Women Mean Business Conference fosters a unique network of women entrepreneurs in India. It encompasses new research into the barriers women face in setting up and developing their businesses, and offers practical solutions to these challenges. Following from the success of first conference, Foundation hosting a second edition to follow through in presenting and discussing tangible solutions to the challenges identified in 2009. The 2010 theme will highlight ICT as a tool for women to start and expand their businesses, with a particular focus on mobile services and web-based technology, such as e-mentoring and social media.

This year's conference will feature distinguished leaders including Mrs. Cherie Blair, Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Ms. Preity Zinta, Actress, Ms. Reema Nanavaty, Director- Economic & Rural Development, SEWA, Mrs. Rachna Nath, Executive Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers Pvt. Ltd., Ms. Sheeren Bhan, Executive-Editor, CNBC-TV18, Ms. Mallika Kapur,  Correspondent, CNN, Mr. Shailesh Rao,  Managing Director, Google India,Mrs. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon Limited,  Ms. Henriette Kolb , CEO, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Ms. Zohra Chatterji, IAS,  Member Secretary, National Commission for Women, Dr. Swati Piramal, Vice Chairman ,Piramal Life Sciences Ltd., Zouera Youssoufou  Head, IFC Women in Business Program, Ms. Sminu Jindal, Managing Director, Jindal SAW limited, Mr. N K Goyal, President, Communications and Manufacturing Association of India (CMAI), Ms. Anju Malhotra, Vice President for Research, Innovation and Impact, ICRW,Dr. Vikram Akula, Chairman, SKS MicroFinance, Dr. Venkatesh G, Executive Director, Chief Technology & Strategy Officer, Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd., Dr. Sunita Maheshwari, Chief Dreamer, Teleradiology Solutions, Ms. Chetna Sinha, President, Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Ltd., Anita Gurumurthy, Executive Director, IT for change, Dr. Jatinder Kaur Arora, Additional Director, Punjab State Council for Science & Technology, Ms. Vanitha Narayanan, Managing Partner - IBM Global Business Services (GBS), IBM India/South Asia, Ms. Anuradha Bhavnani, Regional Director, Shell Foundation, Mr. Anuraj Gambhir, Head of Multimedia, Strategy and Innovation, Ericsson, Nalini Singh, Managing Director, IBN7, Ms. Punita Lal, Executive Director - Marketing, PepsiCo India, Ms. Nafisa Ali, Social Activist, Ms. Kavita Nair, Vice President, Enterprise Solutions, Vodafone Essar, Mr. Anupam G. Mittal, Founder & CEO , People group & Mauj Mobile, Mr.Neeraj Roy, Managing Director & CEO, Hungama Mobile, Ms.Giulia Corinaldi, Mentoring Project Manager, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Ms.Amrita Gangotra, Director IT India & South Asia, Bharti Airtel, Mr.Rajiv Makhni, Head Alternate Media & Managing Editor, Technology, NDTV, Mr.Harsh Manglik, Chairman & Geography Managing Director, Accenture India, Ms.Margaret Keane, President & CEO, GE Capital – Retail Finance, Ms.Suneeta Reddy, Chairperson, Aircel Cellular Ltd. & Former ED-Finance, Apollo Hospitals Finance Ltd, Ms.Archana Bhatnagar, Managing Director, Haylide Chemicals Pvt. Ltd,Ms. Mei  Lu, Director of Global Sales, Alibaba.com, Ms.Susheela Venkatraman, Managing Director, Internet Buisness Group, Cisco, Mr.Rajiv Bawa, EVP Corporate Affairs, UNINOR, and Dr.Rajnee Aggarwal, President, Federation of India Women Entrepreneurs.

2010 Programme

Session One (Plenary)

09:00 - 09:10   Welcome speech

09:10 - 09:30   Keynote address: ICT - Creating opportunities for women entrepreneurs

09:30 - 10:15   In conversation: Growing businesses by using ICT - women entrepreneurs on the frontier

10:15 - 10:30   Recognition of CBFW-NEN fellows

10:30 - 11:00   Coffee break

Session Two (Panels I + II)

11:00 - 12:00   Panel I: Expanding access to financial services through innovative technologyPanel II: Incubating M-VAS solutions for women on the move

Session Three (Panel III/Workshop I)

12:10 - 13:10   Panel III: Social media – tools for transparency and business promotionWorkshop I: Reaching women through e-mentoring

13:10 - 14:30   Lunch & Marketplace (women entrepreneur stalls and sponsor stalls)

Session Four (Panel IV / Workshop II)

14:30 – 15:30  Panel IV: Game-changing women leading technology innovationsWorkshop II: How to be an innovator

15:30 – 16:00  Coffee break

Session Five

16:00 – 16:40

Commitment Session: Presentation of the new commitments made and update of last year’s commitments

16:40 – 16:50  Closing address

16:50 – 17:00  Closing remarks by Cherie Blair, Founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

For further details regarding the Women Mean Business Conference

Email:  [email protected].