Divergent Woman. Events

Empowering Women Ukraine 2025 Business Conference: New Ideas, Opportunities, and Perspectives

Empowering Women Ukraine 2025 Business Conference: New Ideas, Opportunities, and Perspectives
March 21, Kremenchuk

A spacious hall with a large screen and professional lighting, elegantly dressed participants engaged in lively conversations and exchanging business cards, charismatic mentors, and speakers discussing current trends — such was the atmosphere created on March 21 in Kremenchuk during the final business conference "Empowering Women Ukraine 2025."

The event was organized within the framework of the first wave of the project "Empowering Women: Digitalization and Export Acceleration," implemented in Ukraine by the NGO Divergent Woman in partnership with Garage48, the Estonian Women Entrepreneurs Association (EENA), and supported by the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV).

More than 70 attendees were invited with the main goal of creating a platform for dialogue, networking, and showcasing women's business initiatives, as well as providing Ukrainian entrepreneurs with practical tools for scaling their projects, particularly in the fields of export and digitalization.

Laptops, smartphones, presentations on a large screen, and live streaming of the event amplified the importance of the key topics outlined by the event moderator, Maria Yarotska, a mentor from Garage48.

The key discussion topics at the conference included:

  • Challenges faced by women in business
  • Governmental and international support programs
  • Experiences of successful women entrepreneurs
  • Networking, coaching, and mentoring sessions

The composed and confident gestures of the speakers, logical arguments, and their eagerness to interact demanded attention and concentration from the audience. Among the speakers were:

  • Volodymyr Borysenko, President of the Poltava Chamber of Commerce and Industry
  • Olesia Drobotenko, Head of the Investment Activity and Project Management Department of the Poltava Regional Council
  • Viktor Kalashnyk, Director of the Kremenchuk Branch of the Poltava Regional Employment Center
  • Yuliia Pavlyshyna, entrepreneur, co-founder of the creative workshop "Eco-Style"
  • Stanislava Babych, entrepreneur, co-owner of the bakery "Khors"

A creative interactive session was presented by Signe Vesso, PhD — a professional team leadership coach, supervisor, and pedagogue-therapist for trainers and supervisors, and Ester Eomois, MBA — Head of the Management Department at the Estonian Business School and certified ICF coach. Using the GROW model (Goal, Reality, Options, Way Forward), project participants and all interested attendees engaged in pair discussions to create their personal business models.

A distinctive feature of the conference was the active communication among participants. Mentoring sessions in the speed dating format for the participants of the "Empowering Women: Digitalisation and Export Acceleration" program allowed attendees to quickly receive expert advice and answers to their questions. The mentors included:

  • Olesia Malovana, business plan and grant fundraising expert from the Ukrainian Startup Fund
  • Maria Yarotska, founder of Hackbox and digital transformation expert
  • Oleksandr Ustian, B2B and complex markets marketing specialist
  • Nadiia Odnoshevna, business startup consultant and founder of a sales school
  • Kateryna Kolotai, personal brand development expert
  • Valentyna Zhdanova, financial expert and practicing accountant

The culminating moment and the main mission of the conference were the business presentations by participants of the "Empowering Women: Digitalization and Export Acceleration" program. Sixteen Ukrainian women entrepreneurs, who received financial support for business digitalization (up to €2000), presented themselves brightly, modernly, and creatively. Their businesses included IT and software development, SMM, educational services, honey production, clothing design and tailoring, meat production, and loofah sponge manufacturing.

Coffee-scented networking, lively corridor conversations, partnership discussions, and the exchange of contacts created an additional space where ideas are born, agreements are made, and visions for the future are shaped.

In the final part of the conference, the following speakers delivered closing remarks:

  • Olha Liskonoh, a member of the NGO Divergent Woman, who thanked the participants of the first wave and welcomed the launch of the second wave of the "Empowering Women: Digitalization and Export Acceleration" project
  • Olena Poperechna, entrepreneur, Director and Co-founder of LLC "Global Marketing Project," who expressed gratitude to Divergent Woman, Garage48, EENA, and ESTDEV for their support of women's businesses in Ukraine
  • Kseniia Karpenkova, Project Manager at Garage48, who summarized the eventful and emotional day, emphasizing the historic role of women in Ukraine today

On behalf of the organizers, we sincerely thank all participants for their active engagement, professionalism, and valuable contributions. It was these qualities that made the conference a true platform for new opportunities and effective solutions. We are also grateful to the speakers for their inspiring speeches, knowledge sharing, and strategic insights.

May the knowledge gained, new contacts established, and agreements reached help in the implementation of new projects and achieving great success!

To new achievements together!