To celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, Dawson College welcomed former Dell Entrepreneur-in-Residence and CEO of the Empowering a Billion Women by 2020 movement Ingrid Vanderveldt as one of their keynote speakers for EWeek 2014. As a successful businesswoman, media personality, investor and mentor, Vanderveldt’s story inspired her attentive young audience to take the plunge into entrepreneurship. Some of her key messages were “one person with a clear vision and a committed heart can change the world”, the importance of self-confidence, finding the right mentor, and picking yourself back up after a failure. She further highlighted the powerful role of women in the marketplace by mentioning that 70% of global consumer spending is controlled by women and that women-led tech startups produce 35% higher return on investment.
Consul General Nina Maria Fite introduced Vanderveldt to the audience and reinforced the State Department’s commitment to supporting entrepreneurs worldwide, as key drivers of global prosperity. Earlier in the day, the Consulate organized a round table meeting between Vanderveldt and some of Montreal’s most influential young entrepreneurs to discuss tips for succeeding as an entrepreneur, criteria for investing in startups, and women’s leadership. Finally, the Consulate had an information kiosk set up at Dawson College throughout E-Week to inform visitors about our services.
We would like to thank Dawson College for this partnership as well as Ingrid Vanderveldt for taking part. For more photos of the events, please visit our Flickr page.
