Prime Highlights-
- WCIC sharpens its focus on scaling women-owned businesses, guiding women entrepreneurs from aspiration to enterprise and sustainable long-term growth.
- Chamber expands its membership, partnerships and advocacy footprint while strengthening governance to create real opportunities for women in business.
Key Facts-
- WCIC membership rises 20 percent and now crosses 460 members.
- Initiatives include a student entrepreneurship program, Northern Province chapter projects and the Beyond Ramp Up workshop.
Background-
The Women’s Chamber of Industry and Commerce (WCIC) is sharpening its focus on helping women entrepreneurs grow sustainable businesses, as it expands its membership, partnerships and advocacy reach.
WCIC Chairperson Gayani de Alwis, who is concluding her second term, said the Chamber now builds pathways that turn entrepreneurial ambition into viable, long-lasting enterprises.
She told the 41st Annual General Meeting that the Chamber measures its impact by the women whose businesses grew, whose voices grew stronger and whose economic contribution rose, not by the number of programs it runs. Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and the Maldives Isabelle Martin attended as chief guest.
The Chamber backed this goal with a special initiative for female university students with an entrepreneurial mindset, regional chapter projects in the Northern Province, capacity-building programs and the first Beyond Ramp Up workshop. De Alwis said these efforts move women from aspiration to enterprise, and from enterprise to sustainable growth.
Membership rose 20 percent during the period and now tops 460. WCIC also widened its ecosystem through a series of strategic partnerships.
Inside the organization, WCIC strengthened governance by revising its Articles of Association for regulatory compliance and adding a Code of Conduct and a Board self-assessment. It also set clearer roles, job descriptions and performance targets to boost accountability and professionalize operations.
De Alwis said her tenure built a stronger, better connected and professionally governed Chamber that turns its wider ambitions into real opportunities for women in business.
