Giving wings to the entrepreneur in today’s woman

Posted by on Thursday, June 20th, 2013

Picked by Dell as one of the top Global Women Entrepreneur, Padmaja Kumari Parmar, Executive Director – Business Development at HRH Group of Hotels, was recently seen in Istanbul. She was there to participate in the Fourth Annual Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network (DWEN) Event, co-sponsored by Intel. The event was held to spotlight the positive impact that women-owned businesses are having on the global economy.

Padmaja was invited to be on the panel to participate in ‘Lessons From Legacy Business’. Europe, like many markets, has a rich history of family enterprises which have provided women with an opportunity to lead companies in the SMB space. Although there is an extra dimension of family dynamics, legacy businesses have similar needs to other types of businesses including succession planning, core values, maintaining the entrepreneurial spirit and governance/structure. In addition, family businesses are often seen as drivers of social change in their communities. This event gave an insight on sustainable growth and overcoming obstacles from women who are at the top levels of legacy businesses.

The theme of this virtual event was ‘Paying It Forward’ with the goal to harness the power of network members and Dell women employees to positively impact women’s entrepreneurship around the world. Along with Padmaja Kumari, keynote speakers included female CEOs, founders and thought leaders:

• Cheryl Mills, former counselor and chief of staff to Hillary Clinton at the US State Department
• Elizabeth Gore, resident entrepreneur, UN Foundation;
• Melek Pulatkonak, founder & curator, Turkish Women’s International Network(WIN);
• Ayşegül İldeniz, EMEA board member of Inteland head of the Technology and Innovation group at TUSIAD;
• Julie Meyer, founder & CEO, Ariadne Capital;
• Moira Forbes, publisher of Forbes Woman;
• Sarah Curran, founder, my-wardrobe.com;
• Simone Ross, COO and co-founder, Techonomy;
• Steve Felice, president and chief commercial officer, Dell;
• Karen Quintos, vice president and chief marketing officer, Dell;
• Ingrid Vanderveldt, entrepreneur-in-residence, Dell

Looking at a global audience, post-event activities included inviting these powerful women to join the Women Powering Business group on LinkedIn and on Twitter, which is already witnessing an overwhelming response.

Leading by example, Padmaja Kumari Parmar has been actively involved with entrepreneurial activities and implementing new business alliances for HRH Group of Hotels since 2006. DWEN 2013 has only added to the myriad of blueprints that this royal young lady bears in her mind.

Click here to read what Business magazine, The Next Women, interacted with Padmaja Kumari Parmar on running a family business.

Ayşegül İldeniz, Cheryl Mills, Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, DWEN 2013, Elizabeth Gore, HRH Group of Hotels, Ingrid Vanderveldt, Intel, Istanbul, Julie Meyer, Karen Quintos, legacy business, Melek Pulatkonak, Moira Forbes, Padmaja Kumari Parmar, Sarah Curran, Simone Ross, Steve Felice, women entrepreneur