By Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — As Guyana commands the global spotlight for its rapid economic expansion, the highly anticipated Sixth Annual WeLead Conference is scheduled to make a vibrant, in-person return this Saturday, June 27, 2026. The full-day forum, kicking off at 09:00 hrs, will take over the sophisticated new wing of the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre in Georgetown.
The conference is the brainchild of Abbigale Loncke-Watson, a multi-sector corporate executive and founder of the WeLead Association. For nearly a decade, Loncke-Watson has dedicated her career to fostering high-impact opportunities for Guyanese women through structured mentorship, business training, and national advocacy. Loncke-Watson’s localized development models previously earned her personal recognition from former U.S. President Barack Obama during the 2016 Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI).
Unveiled under the timely, forward-looking theme “Guyana to the World: Women Building Global Bridges,” the 2026 summit is engineered to transition from basic empowerment rhetoric to practical, institutional capacity building.
“We are looking closely at women who are actively building Guyana at completely different structural levels,” Loncke-Watson shared in an exclusive sit-down with Nightly News. “Our panels focus heavily on the intersection of government, the private sector, and civil society. We have secured expert speakers who are directly leading in IT, pioneering workflows in oil and gas, and scaling major commercial operations.”
A central pillar woven into every workshop panel is combating imposter syndrome, fostering personal branding, and cultivating corporate visibility. Organizers have intentionally designed the curriculum to equip female founders with the technical acumen and psychological resilience needed to confidently claim leadership roles within traditionally male-dominated macro-industries.
“Every panel speaks directly to that from the opening to the very last session,” Loncke-Watson emphasized. “How can women confidently take up space? How can women confidently execute their assignments and expand their operations globally without being flustered or held back by imposter syndrome?”
The summit expects to draw a massive, diverse cohort spanning seasoned corporate executives, public servants, grassroots tech innovators, and single-parent mothers looking to scale small domestic projects into robust commercial enterprises.
To deliver these actionable legal and financial frameworks, WeLead has assembled a distinguished roster of female leaders, including:
- Dr. Vindhya Persaud, Minister of Human Services and Social Security;
- Kathy Smith, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI);
- Josephine Tapp, President of the Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Guyana (WCCIG);
- Filisha Duke, Founder and CEO of logistics giant SureGig Inc.
By connecting ambitious local innovators with established international networks and providing sustainable post-conference support through the WeLead Incubator, the 2026 assembly aims to ensure that Guyanese women aren’t mere spectators to the country’s historic wealth generation, but are the primary architects steering its sustainable future.
