Serious Girl-Talk: Get To Know The Founders Of "She Talks Asia" Women Leadership Conference

This Saturday, March 10, the highly-acclaimed "She Talks Asia" Women’s Leadership conference will launch its second run as part of the big celebration of Women’s Month. This year’s theme, "She is Self-Made," brings together 30 inspiring speakers, including Ces Drilon, Karen Davila, Nico Bolzico, Tonya Rapley-Flash and many more, to give young women a broad stroke talk on everything they need to succeed in today’s society. From career advice, to tackling sexual harassment and financial stability, the She Talks Asia Summit is a no-holds-barred, free flow discussion of what it means to be a woman in this modern day.

 

She Talks Asia Founders (from left): Iza Calzado, Vicky Herrera, and Lynn Pinugu

 

Only on its second year, She Talks Asia has expanded dramatically, garnering the support of many women leaders, celebrities, philanthropists, and businesses. Everything seemed to fall into place, and quickly, as these founders will say. Coming from varied backgrounds, but all highly accomplished, here’s a quick acquaintance with the story of "She Talks Asia" and its founders:

 

Eleanor “Lynn” Pinugu

 

A post shared by Eleanor Rosa Pinugu (@lynnpinugu) on May 19, 2017 at 7:02pm PDT

 

Lynn is a multi-award winning educator and social entrepreneur. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Mano Amiga Philippines, a non-profit school system providing quality education to low-income communities. Lynn’s many accolades include being a Global Shaper in 2011, Philippine representative to the 2012 World Economic Forum, The Outstanding Women In The Nations Service (TOWNS) Awardee in 2013, United Nations Alliance Of Civilizations Fellow in 2015 and Asia Society’s Asia 21 Young Leaders in 2017. According to Lynn, the She Talks Asia Summit stemmed from the success of the 2017 "Every Girl Can" conference, which was originally conceptualized for Mano Amiga.

 

 

Victoria “Vicky” Herrera

 

A post shared by She Talks Asia (@shetalksasia) on Feb 21, 2018 at 1:11am PST

 

Model, host, author, and entrepreneur, Vicky is the founder of Next Theory, a brand and social media consulting agency. As one of the co-founders of She Talks Asia, she emphasized on the importance of women’s issues in the now, as she and her partners are keen to lead the momentum of driven young women. “Sometimes, it’s just gut feel," she says, recalling how she and her co-founders planned and executed the first conference in less than two months. “It’s not pre-meditated; it’s a feeling that you know it’s important, and you have to do it now. So that’s what we did.”

 

 

Sarah Meier

 

A post shared by Sarah Meier (@sarah_meier) on Dec 15, 2017 at 6:23pm PST

 

Currently a New-York based lifestyle and culture writer, Sarah was the former Editor-In-Chief of Metro magazine, and now acting Editor-At-Large for Metro magazine and Metro.Style. In the span of her amazing career, Sarah has been a Lifestyle Columnist for Manila Bulletin, a VJ and host for MTV Asia, an author, and editor.

When the 2017 "Every Girl Can" conference was still beibg developed, Sarah originally planned for a similar conference; at which point, the founders decided to come together to create one unified conference. “How powerful would it be, if we had just combined our efforts," recalls Lynn, emphasizing how they all came from unique backgrounds and varied networks, but shared the common goal for women empowerment. “We realized that if we all work together then we would be able to complement each other.”

 

 

Iza Calzado

 

A post shared by ?? DREAM BIG ?? (@missizacalzado) on Mar 4, 2018 at 2:25am PST

 

Asides from being one of the most celebrated actresses in Philippine showbiz, Iza is also a vocal wellness enthusiast and body love advocate. Having been candid about her struggles with weight-loss and body image, Iza’s passion to spread awareness and self-love eventually led her to join the She Talks Asia founders. This year, she will be spearheading the panel discussion for the "Body Love" talk.

“If you ask me, why [I chose] the body positivity campaign, it’s because I wanted to speak to the little Iza, who needed guidance, but never had it," says Iza, who ultimately aims to bring her campaign to adolescence in schools, in order to promote self-love to the vulnerable youth.

 

The "She Talks Asia" Summit will be held on March 10, 2018, Saturday, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, at the Blue Leaf Events Pavilion, McKinley Hill. Tickets are now available online.

 

Photo courtesy of She Talks Asia (cover photo)