June was an especially inspiring and exciting month for Connected Women’s meetups as they held the biggest edition of this event last June 27 in 15 cities across four countries (Philippines, Singapore, Pakistan, and the UK). These cities were Baguio, Bohol, Cavite, Cagayan De Oro, Cebu, Iloilo, Lahore, Makati, Pampanga, Pagadian, Pasig, Quezon City, Singapore, and London. An estimated more than 350 women were able to form new communities, share stories, and learn more about entrepreneurship and freelancing that night.

Notable milestones for this June edition were the first meetup in Lahore, Pakistan as well as Makati having a finance-themed tie-up with Unionbank. It was also the first time for Dasmariñas, Cavite and Quezon City to host. Singapore’s meetup was also hosted for the first time by Facebook, where the ladies were given a workshop on how to create Facebook ads with their mobile phones. Connected Women CEO and co-founder Gina Romero graced that meetup.

“I felt a more real sense of a Connected Women community by attending a meetup,” says Noreen Bautista, Events and Community Manager of Connected Women who was also present at the Iloilo meetup. “Knowing that you have women around you who are drawn by the desire to connect and help each other (whether in business, career or in life in general)-that’s empowering.”

The ladies were treated to an evening of introductions and talks about entrepreneurship and freelancing. They then networked and shared stories to their hearts’ content.

Modern And Finance-Themed Meetup

The Makati meetup which was held in the Ark by Unionbank, is the first fully digital bank branch in the Philippines. Ruth Yu-Owen, Connected Women co-founder, shared some of her experiences there. “The women that were present were inspiring,” she says. “It was heartwarming to see women talk about what they do, juggling a day job and a 9-to-5 life. Also women wanting to share what they know by helping other women.”

According to Kath Eustaquio-Derla, a freelance writer who attended her first Connected Women event, she had never felt so much energy in a room! “To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t able to sleep well last night because my mind was racing, thinking of all the possible collabs, projects, and activities we can do at succeeding events,” she shares. “True to my form as a Cosmopolitan woman, it was a fun, fearless, fierce, and fabulous event! Cheers to all! Let’s build that Fempire (Female Empire) together!” Her energy was shared by another fellow Makati attendee, Hazel Joseph. “My jaws and cheeks got really tired last night for there was no dull moment and no reason to frown at all, it was such a blessed and fruitful meet up,” she says. “It is such a great experience to be with SUPER WOMEN sharing the same likes, and vision. It didn’t feel like we all met for the first time. Good company, perfect venue, fruitful conversations. I feel so blessed to have met all of [them].”

Judy Lorenzo, Owner-General Manager at TDES Sanitizing Services, says that she loved seeing walls between strangers broken down. “It is heartwarming to see strangers openly sharing personal stories; to see ladies from different walks of life talking about common victories and challenges; to see women just letting their hair down and simply having fun in the meetup beyond the toughness we are all going through, we find comfort and inspiration from each other,” she narrates.

Unionbank manager Mou Soriano explained that Unionbank collaborated with Connected Women because it is their vision to provide opportunities for women and build a community and have a support group in line with the direction of UnionBank GlobalLinker, a product of their company that aims to be a one stop shop for SMEs. “It was nice to see that our vision of reaching out to communities and helping build them was realized,” he explains. “We were able to validate that our path towards digitization was right because we want to transform the way banking should be, particularly on how certain needs where addressed last night.”

First Meet-Up in Lahore, Pakistan

Tehmina Chaudry, one of the organizers of the event, explains why they were motivated to have a Connected Women meet-up in their country. “Women are known to be best at multi-tasking,” she explains. “During a simple day they do hundreds of tasks without a hitch. However, the obstacle encountered by many entrepreneurs and professional women is that they lack the knowledge to market their skills according to the market requirements. #ConnectedWomen is a platform that provides a great solution for those lacking of technology knowledge by connecting like-minded women and by sharing the expertise. This is so that every individual is connected and can reap the benefits of tools and tips of the modern era technological advancement. This vision of #ConnectedWomen has inspired us to take the initiative in our region too. We want to help, connect and share as much as we can so that Connected Women Pakistan can become the first choice of every woman entrepreneur out there in Pakistan. We desire to inspire the hidden talent to come out and flourish through this platform.”

“The response of our first Meetup has proven that women of Pakistan were waiting for a chance like this. We also endorsed the same message of Share, Connect, Learn and Work through more practical approach for such as workshops, seminars and more meetups etc.”

What The Ladies Particularly Loved About The June Meetup

London has had its share of meetups, with the June meetup being the city’s third. This in particular was special for host Adele Lim, because of how at ease each person was. “What I loved about last night was the ease with which each person took to the space—feeling safe enough to share personal stories, permeating the room with gratitude, and allowing innovation to provide answers to questions asked,” she says. “The ladies brought their talents out in a relaxed way and left buzzing, not just with ideas and inspiration, but concrete with next steps, from the formal and informal conversations that evening.”

London meet-up

Baguio Meetup

Cebu Meetup

Pasig Meetup

Quezon City meet-up

Pagadian City meet-up

Pampanga meet-up

Cagayan De Oro meet-up

Bohol meet-up

Cavite meet-up

Davao meet-up

Singapore Meetup

Some ladies felt so at home at their respective meetup, that they even celebrated their birthday right then and there, such as Jeanne Basallo from Iloilo.

Iloilo Meetup

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