Press release

22 Nov 2019 Nicosia, CY

The third Women Fit for Business program has come to a successful conclusion.

AIPFE Cyprus - Women of Europe in collaboration with EY Cyprus and The Cyprus Institute of Marketing have completed the third Women Fit for Business (WF4B) initiative.

Press contact
EY Cyprus

Multidisciplinary professional services organization

  • A collaboration between AIPFE Cyprus - Women of Europe, EY Cyprus and the Cyprus Institute of Marketing (CIM).
  • The program has successfully trained 14 unemployed female university graduates.

AIPFE Cyprus - Women of Europe in collaboration with EY Cyprus and The Cyprus Institute of Marketing have completed the third Women Fit for Business (WF4B) initiative.

To mark the successful completion of the program,a closing ceremony took place on November 20th, 2019.

This year’s cohort of graduates consisted of 14 aspiring ladies, whose interests varied from social entrepreneurship to technology and engineering to genetics, a testament of this generation’s core interests.

The program, which was initiated by AIPFE Cyprus - Women of Europe in 2015, was carried out in collaboration with EY Cyprus and The Cyprus Institute of Marketing (CIM) between April and November 2019. The WF4B initiative aspires to empower, motivate and connect young, unemployed, female university graduates by instilling in them the confidence and necessary hard and soft skills to enter or re-enter the labor market or even start their own business.

Yangos Hadjiyannis, CIM Deputy Director General, stated: “We at CIM feel very satisfied with the results of the WF4B project and we are proud to have been part of this amazing journey in the past 9 months. We have witnessed the participants develop their skills and we believe that they are now much better equipped for a successful career.”

Commenting on the WF4B initiative, Charalambos Constantinou, Partner and Head of Advisory Services of EY Cyprus, said: “Empowering women, and in a broader spectrum promoting diversity and inclusiveness, is a value that stands deeply within the EY culture, leading us towards our core value: building a better working world. During the program, I had the pleasure to meet these young ladies in person, as one of their trainers. I can see their progress in how they have built their confidence and self-esteem, in their improved communication and presentation skills, but mostly in their greater sense of freedom and empowerment to reflect on who they are and what they want to achieve in life.”

“The greatest contribution of a leader is to make other leaders and that is why, we, as AIPFE Cyprus, an organization which focusses on female empowerment, investing effort and resources into this program. We want to see more women in decision-making positions, as this is integral in bringing about changes in the way our world is run. We start by trying to inspire a younger generation of female leaders to demand this and by providing them with a tool kit to do so”, said AIPFE’s President, Anna Koukkides Procopiou.

Keynote speaker, Andrea Solomonides, presented some insight on ‘How to succeed as a multipotentialite’. With an insatiable passion in music, politics, business and entrepreneurship, Andrea admits that she never truly had one single vocation. “Certain people do not just have one true calling”, she said, adding that there are people out there who are wired to pursue countless callings with success.

AIPFE Communications Officer, Thalia Iacovou, facilitated a fireside chat with some of the WF4B graduates, giving the audience an opportunity to get a taste of the wide variety of projects which were conducted during the program.

Finally, the spotlight turned onto the WF4B graduates, who received their certificates with immense pride and joy.

-end-

EY Release WF4B closing  ceremony2019 (Greek)

For more information, please contact the EY Cyprus

Email: Irene

Contact number: +357 22209999

Notes to Editors

About EY

EY | Assurance | Tax | Transactions | Advisory

EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people, for our clients and for our communities.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.