Join us for the launch of A Decade of Learnings on Gender-Lens Acceleration: Case Studies from Asia, a report that highlights key insights, and lessons learned from accelerator programs designed to support women-led small and growing businesses (SGBs) across Asia. This webinar will present findings from the report, including successful strategies, best practices, real-world challenges, and impactful outcomes that illustrate how gender-sensitive approaches can close gaps in entrepreneurial support for women. The session will offer valuable takeaways for accelerators, investors, donors, and other ecosystem partners who are committed to advancing gender equality and scaling women-led ventures, providing a roadmap for more inclusive, impactful programming.
Date: 4 December 2024
Time: 10.00-11.00hrs ICT
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Ayaka Matsuno, Director of Social Innovation Program, Sasakawa Peace Foundation
Ayaka Matsuno is Director of Social Innovation Program at Sasakawa Peace Foundation, which leverages social innovation to address societal challenges and promote inclusivity. She also serves as Co-Head of Delegates for W20 Japan, an official engagement group for G20 on women’s economic empowerment, sharing insights from SPF’s work with G20 Leaders. Prior to joining SPF, she spent over 20 years working overseas with organizations such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), International Labour Organization (ILO), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), focusing on empowering women, girls, and vulnerable communities across Asia, East Africa, and South America.
Abigayle Davidson, Director of Research and Impact, ANDE
Abigayle joined ANDE in 2016 to manage the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative (GALI), the leading source of research on business acceleration in developing economies. Abby now leads ANDE’s research and impact work across the globe, including projects to map entrepreneurial ecosystems, track trends in impact investing, and fund practitioner-researcher partnerships to test practical interventions supporting small and growing businesses. Prior to ANDE, Abby co-founded Markham & Fitz, a bean-to-bar chocolate company based in the U.S. She holds a Bachelor’s in International Business and Economics and a Master’s in Economics from the University of Arkansas.
La Woon Yan, Investment Manager, EME
La Woon Yan is the Program Manager at Cnai Accelerator, a gender-smart Accelerator focused on supporting SMEs from Cambodia to grow their gender impact, investment readiness and sustainability. He is also the Investment Manager at EME, an early-stage venture capital fund in Myanmar, and previously ran the SanThit Accelerator in Myanmar. With strong experience in early-stage startup investment, as well as post-investment support, La Woon provides mentorship to participant SMEs in the Cnai Accelerator to help grow their businesses, improve gender impacts and secure external investments
Tom Sebastian, Regional Director of Partnerships in Asia and APAC, Seedstars
Tom Sebastian, serving as the Regional Director of Partnerships in Asia and APAC for Seedstars, is responsible for building impact programs for regional and national partners across Asia.
With a career spanning over 16 years, Tom has garnered extensive expertise in sustainability, socio-economic impact, and entrepreneurship development. His professional journey includes notable tenures at The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, Asia House, Palladium, and Accenture, where he played pivotal roles in shaping initiatives aimed at addressing pressing global challenges. Tom possesses a wealth of experience in fostering cross-industry collaborations and conceiving both national and international programs geared toward combating climate change and promoting livelihood development.
Tom’s commitment to driving positive change is reflected in his varied portfolio of projects and partnerships. His strategic leadership and collaborative approach have been instrumental in shaping impactful initiatives that resonate across diverse sectors and geographies
Merai Syed, Director of Strategy and Growth, Invest2Innovate (i2i)
Merai Syed is an entrepreneurship ecosystem leader and innovator with extensive experience in helping build and deliver over 700 technology high-growth products and services from idea to series A stage across various startup hubs around the world, including the USA, UK, India, UAE, Vietnam, and Pakistan.
Having played a crucial role in supporting multiple startups in the MENAP ecosystem to raise over $7 million worth of funds through providing investment readiness coaching, curating data rooms, and guiding them on deal structure, fundraising strategy, investor mapping, and engagement.
Merai is passionate about creating and scaling impact-driven solutions that address the challenges and opportunities in the digital deep tech, e-commerce, edtech, health, climate, agriculture, and social sectors. Currently, Merai is leading the i2iEcosystem Project with the support from the Visa Foundation, where i2i is working on three primary verticals: a platform for investor-founder discovery, a program for accelerating 250 SMBs, and a community that solves the ecosystem pain point through an integrated approach.