IAWL Hosts Inaugural Meet and Greet for Women Leaders

By: WE Staff | Friday, 13 February 2026

• The International Association of Women in Leadership (IAWL) held its first Meet and Greet
• The event featured women leaders, professionals, and entrepreneurs from various backgrounds
• The attendees were encouraged to contribute to and support future events of the association

The International Association of Women in Leadership (IAWL) was unveiled as a support system for women in all areas of leadership, from corporate to entrepreneurial to social and grassroots.

The founding members of the association Rupali Basu, Shaleni Bbiswas, Ambalika Das and Shilpa Chakraborty shared the vision, mission and strategic direction of IAWL and invited the attendees to participate in the development of the association.

According to Dr. Rupali, during the upcoming year, IAWL will concentrate on developing female leaders through the creation of leadership programmes, formal mentoring programmes, peer circles and the collection of resources available to all female leaders in various stages of their careers.

The peer circles will provide structured venues where women can connect with each other learn from one another and build networks with other distaff leaders and founders in their respective industries.

Shaleni explained that through this collaboration they hope to connect and work collaboratively with women across many different industries and relationships and ultimately create a mutual learning experience as well.

Lastly, she announced that with the launch of the IAWL Kolkata chapter an expansion is planned for other cities in India, and then globally.

The directors drew attention to this by explaining how the platform aims to promote this common approach to leadership through initiatives like IAWL Power Circles, the Entrepreneur’s Forum, and a Mentorship Clinic.

Other proposed initiatives will offer capacity-building activities like masterclasses, industry visits, and off-site activities. These will be complemented by an annual flagship event, the IAWL Summit.

The Programme also witnessed the presence of other guests such as Ekavali Khanna, Priti Patel, and Nayantara Palchoudhuri.

The speakers expressed how networks play an important part in the development of leaders and how an inclusive approach is essential for leadership.

The Programme concluded with an analysis of the initiatives that will be undertaken to enhance collaboration and development of women leaders.