By Jeanne Brownewell, OWIT-Toronto
OWIT International hosted its virtual Spring Global Summit 2026, Aligning our Vision, Strengthening Our Voice on June 17. Bringing together representatives from OWIT chapters across the globe, the summit provided a forum for connection, collaboration, and opportunity to build the future of OWIT. President Noreen Burroughes Cesareo remarked how — with 25+ chapters across 4 continents — OWIT is continuing to grow as it champions women in trade and contributes to the wider ecosystem.
OWIT's Value Proposition
Ken Jacques, VP of Communications, shared the results of the OWIT Global Communications Survey, highlighting strong alignment around OWIT’s mission but weaker consistency in how its value is communicated. While OWIT maintains significant credibility and influence, there is room to create a clearer, more unified message to current and prospective members, partners, and external audiences. OWIT’s value proposition extends beyond networking to include leadership, expertise, and influence, connecting women to opportunities and advancing their participation in shaping international trade.
Engagement and Cross-Chapter Collaboration
Moderated by Dr. Blessing Irabor-Oza, co-VP Programming, this panel — including Nathalie Bradbury (Canada), Jennie Sammur (USA), Iulia Popescu (Europe), Tshengi Ndlovu (Africa), Elif Abdullahoglu (Türkiye), and Tamuna Gabilaia, who moderated the breakout rooms — sought insights on how chapters can feel more connected and supported. Participants agreed that engagement is strongest when members see a clear connection between networking and value, including business opportunities, mentoring, career development, and access to relevant information. The discussion also emphasized ideas for more intentional collaboration across chapters, such as creating a technology-enabled platform that facilitates B2B matchmaking and mentorship among members globally while communicating OWIT’s value proposition to partners. Natural partnership opportunities center on organizations with similar work, including trade-related firms, chambers of commerce, NGOs, and other women’s organizations.
Guest Keynote: Leading with AI in a Changing World
Dr. Anastassia Lauterbach, CEO and Founder of AI Edutainment, delivered a presentation on how AI literacy and resilience can become strategic advantages for women in global trade and international business. She noted that knowledge of the technology remains limited, creating misconceptions about its role and potential. Businesses that take a “literacy before fluency” approach, developing a grasp of AI fundamentals and risks, will be best-positioned to succeed.
Best practices for organizations include using AI to solve specific contextual problems rather than broad application, working closely with HR to augment the workforce, and carefully considering the security and financial implications. As demographic pressures grow, integrating AI into business operations becomes increasingly important, though well-structured workflows are necessary for ensuring automation covers both explicit and tacit knowledge. Strong AI governance is also essential as difficult-to-audit agentic systems expand.
Moderated Open Forum
The summit concluded with an open forum moderated by Susan Baka, co-VP Chapter Support, and Cami Mazard, Esq, co-VP Sponsorship. Participants shared additional suggestions to strengthen OWIT’s reach and impact, including increasing its visibility in the W20 delegation, connecting chapters through trade missions, and hosting a database of centralized resources. As a relationship-driven network, OWIT will continue to build bridges and trust while serving as a key source of information for women passionate about international trade.
Planned by OWIT Executive VPs Jennie Sammur and Nathalie Bradbury, the Summit was also organized with the support of Elif Abdullahoglu, co-VP Conferences & Meetings.
