WBAF Announces Angela Gerekou as Vice President of the Global Women Leaders Committee
The World Business Angels Investment Forum announces Angela Gerekou, as Vice President of the Global Women Leaders Committee.
Angela Gerekou, President of The Greek National Tourism Organization, a politician and an activist for sustainable development and women rights, as a Senior Senator for Greece and Vice President of WBAF’s Global Women Leaders Committee.
The World Business Angels Investment Forum announces Angela Gerekou, President of the Greek National Tourism Organisation and Deputy Minister for Culture (2014-2015), as Vice President of the Global Women Leaders Committee. Gerekou will represent Greece as Senior Senator in the Grand Assembly of the World Business Angels Investment Forum
As an actress, she held the main role in the British-Greek production “The Girl of Mani”, which was presented in the International Film Festival of Cannes. She has acted in many plays for cinema, theater and television and she has worked with many distinguished Greek film directors. Since 2011 she’s President of the Board of Directors of the Ionian Cultural Center which hosts since then the Corfu Festival of Arts.
,
She is also the president of the Lafkadio Hearn foundation. Ambassador of Tourism & Culture for ICC Hellas. During 2005-2006 she was appointed as the National Representative on Global Progressive Forum’s campaign against AIDS. She is also an architect and a keynote speaker for intangible Greek heritage.
The Global Women Leaders Committee is chaired by H.E. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, President of the Republic of Croatia (2015–2020). Other Vice Presidents are H.E. Martha Delgado, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico; Swati Mandela, Granddaughter of Nelson Mandela and WBAF High Commissioner for South Africa; Marie-Christine Oghly, World President, World Association of Women Entrepreneurs (FCEM).
(London) ‘Women do not wait for the future’, says Swati Mandela. ‘When one woman helps another, amazing things happen, and they become real leaders’. The Global Woman Leaders Committee of the World Business Angels Investment Forum gathers some of the world’s most influential of these leaders to explore today’s biggest challenges, foster deep collaboration, and generate new ideas.
The Global Woman Leaders Committee is committed to leveraging unique access to the world’s most influential woman leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and artists—uniting these global forces to harness their collective knowledge, address today’s critical issues, and generate innovative solutions to empower the world economy.
Women have made impressive marks in politics and the business world, making their voices heard and breaking the glass ceiling of boardrooms, including those in the male-dominated tech industry. More and more women parade into tech companies or even become startup entrepreneurs, making their mark in this male-dominant industry. In the 2017 Forbes list of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, 18 of these ‘she-bosses’ work in the tech industry. The rise of women startups is not a Western phenomenon. In China, where women are often relegated to a submissive back-seat role, 55% of startups are owned by women, according to the 2018 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs.
Global Woman Leaders Committee is committed to leveraging unique access to the world’s most influential woman leaders, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and artists—uniting these global forces to harness their collective knowledge, address today’s critical issues, and generate innovative solutions to empower the world economy.
Angela Gerekou, says ‘Female leaders possess the same traits as their male counterparts: vision, perseverance, empathy, passion, etc. But one thing that next-generation female leaders need to have is to truly be at the forefront of creating women-empowered workplaces.
To that end, organizations need to ensure there are sufficient rungs on the ladder to help women climb into management positions. We need to be open-minded enough to bring in female leaders from other industries, who don’t have a tech background. We need to work closely with schools and universities to win the argument that tech isn’t just a male career path. Technology also has a role to play – and responsibility – in promoting diversity in the workplace, given its ability to change working relationships, encourage transparency and connect people around the world. In a period of constant flux, organizations that prioritize a diverse and inclusive culture will be better placed to solve the problems of the future.
Through the WBAF’s Global Woman Leaders Committee, I will strive to contribute to the momentum unleashed by the World Business Angels Investment Forum to support women leadership and entrepreneurship in any area male-dominated. I am inviting you to join our efforts too.’’
Baybars Altuntas, WBAF Executive Chairman, says , ‘’I believe that the Global Woman Leaders Committee under the leadership of H.E. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović brings a wide range of opportunities for women in the world and explores the real reasons for the gender-based funding challenge, ways to overcome the challenge, ways that women founders – while lobbying for long-term change – can operate intelligently in the current ecosystems. I am sure world’s women leaders and entrepreneurs will find rewarding experience by engaging with the Committee’s mission after Angela Gerekou joins the efforts of the Committee as a Vice President ’’
About the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF)
An affiliated partner of the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), the World Business Angels Investment Forum (WBAF) is an international organisation aiming to ease access to finance for businesses from start-up to scale-up, with the ultimate goal of generating more jobs and more social justice worldwide. It is committed to collaborating globally to empower world economic development by creating innovative financial instruments for innovators, start-ups, and SMEs. The Forum interacts with leaders in all areas of society, first and foremost in business and political spheres, to help assess needs and establish goals, bearing in mind that the public interest is of paramount importance. WBAF engages a wide range of institutions, both public and private, local and international, commercial and academic to help shape the global agenda.
About GPFI
The Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) is an inclusive platform for all G20 countries, interested non-G20 countries, and relevant stakeholders to carry forward work on financial inclusion, including implementation of the G20 Financial Inclusion Action Plan endorsed at the G20 Summit in Seoul. Queen Maxima of the Netherlands is the Honorary Patron of the GPFI.
About Angela Gerekou
President of Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO)
Gerekou since August 2019 has been appointed, President of the Greek National Tourism Organization, by decision of the Greek Government and the Ministry for Tourism. Angela Gerekou was born in the island of Corfu. She holds a degree from the School of Architecture of the University Of Rome, Italy. She has worked as an Architect for the Hellenic Ministry of Environment, Physical Planning and Public Works, on special programs for the renovation of underdeveloped areas of Athens and she has also worked out a great number of architectural projects for the island of Corfu. She has served the Greek Government from the positions of Deputy Minister for Culture and Tourism (2009-2010) and Deputy Minister for Culture (2014-2015). She was elected Member of the Greek Parliament, for Corfu, in the 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2012 national elections. Angela Gerekou, also has a significant career in acting. She studied in Derek Jakoby’s “London Academy of Performing Art” in London, UK and she was a member of Federico Fellini’s student group in Italy. She held the main role in the British-Greek production “The Girl of Mani”, which was presented in the International Film Festival of Cannes. She has acted in many plays for cinema, theater and television and she has worked with many distinguished Greek directors. During the years 1987-1988, she was amongst the founding members of the “Cultural Movement for the Ionian Islands” – a cultural group whose aim was the revival of the traditional genre of the Ionian Theater, through collaborating with many notable political and cultural personalities. Since 2011 she’s President of the Board of Directors of the Ionian Cultural Center which hosts since then the Corfu Festival of Arts. She is also the president of the Lafkadio Hearn foundation. Ambassador of Tourism&Coulture for ICC Hellas. She is a volunteer participant in various social initiatives for environmental protection, youth culture and sensitive social groups. During 2005-2006 she was appointed as the National Representative on Global Progressive Forum’s campaign against AIDS. At the same time period she served as Volunteerism Sector Manager while she was an MP for PASOK political party..She is married and the mother of a daughter.She speaks Italian, English and French.
