NASSAU, Bahamas, September 13, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — With the International Women’s Empowerment Summit (IWES) quickly approaching, men and women from as far as Ghana are hoping to secure a spot at this inaugural event in paradise.

Slated for October 19-21 at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, the schedule for the summit is overflowing with purposeful activities, in particular eight revolutionary panels. Some of the featured speakers on the panel are heavy hitters like Pastor of One Church in Los Angeles, Toure Jakes Roberts; Fashion and Swimwear Designer, Amber Atherton and Celebrity Makeup Artist, Gabby Bernstein.

In addition to the world-renowned speakers, the topics for the eight panels include:Business as Unusual Women, Doing Business with Confidence, Wealth Creation and Economic Empowerment, Startup Women, Presentation is Everything, The Value of Educating a Woman, UN Women HeForShe and The Balanced Woman.
Hosted by The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with Startup Woman and United Nations Women, the summit is designed for women professionals and entrepreneurs from around the world and The Bahamas, to meet, to learn from and to inspire each other.

Joy Jibrilu, Director General of The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism said interest from the public, especially internationally, has been remarkable. “We have had more interest from international audiences than we could have asked for. I’m talking about people who have been prepared to register and commit to coming to The Bahamas. Feedback has been phenomenal from as far away as Africa and both Ghana and Nigeria have expressed huge levels of interest.”

Jibrilu said the Ministry of Tourism reached out to spectacular women to speak on the panel to ensure that the summit has not only merit but also value.

“We’ve reached out to phenomenal women both at home and globally. Women who have made an impact such as Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, the richest black woman in the world who is coming in to speak on two panels. In addition you’ve got Sarah Roberts, TD Jakes’ daughter, and her husband coming to speak,” she said.

“We are so delighted that the United Nations Women has come on to become a partner with us in this initiative. In addition, Startup Women UK and the founder of Startup UK is also the founder of WIE enterprises and they’re partnering with us. So just their reach alone has ensured that we have the highest caliber and quality of speakers coming.”

Other speakers include:
Sarah Jakes Roberts – Pastor of One Church LA
Folorunso Alakija – Founder of Rose of Sharon and Vice Chairman of Famfa Oil
Pastor Funke Adejumo – President of Funke Felix Adejumo Foundation
Lauren Holowesko – Director of Island House
Nikki Ogunnaike – Senior Fashion Editor of Hearst Digital Media
Amy Van Atta Slater – Senior Vice President, Rovi Corporation
Hon. Allyson Maynard Gibson – Attorney General of The Bahamas
Lakshmi Puri – Assistant Secretary General for Intergovernmental Support and Strategic Partnerships at UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women
Melissa Odabash – Founder of Flash Cash
Cheryl Tiegs – Fashion Model and Designer
Carole White – Founder of Premier Model Management
Lisa Goodchild – CEO of Digiwoo
Beverly Saunders – Vice President of Human Resources for Cable Bahamas
Traci Otey Blunt – Executive Vice President of The RLJ Companies
Sam Fine – Self Help Author and Motivational Speaker
Karen Cummings Palmer – Health, Beauty and Nutrition Consultant
Dr. Terri Kennedy – CEO of Power Living Enterprises Inc.
Jennifer Wilson – Manager at the Cove Atlantis
Liz Stern – Founder of Global Giving Advisors
Marion Bethel – Partner at Sears and Co/Writer and Documentarian
Ted Bunch – Co Founder of A Call to Men
Josh Levs – Co Founder of A Call to Men
Amir Dossal – Founder of the Global Partnerships Forum

The summit will also host the launch of the StartUp Woman initiative for The Bahamas, a new enterprise by the founders of WIE Network, which shines a spotlight on woman-owned SME’s in the UK, the US and The Bahamas. With the support of Startup Woman Bahamas, six notable women will be invited to mentor six young aspiring Bahamian entrepreneurs.

For more information, and to register for IWES 2016, please visit bahamasiwesummit.com.