Women Empowerment Networking Jamaica: We Inspire Women Reaches Its 10th Anniversary
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Ten years after Cortia Bingham McKenzie gathered women in a room and asked them to own their truth, women-owned businesses are being invited to showcase their products and services at the We Inspire Women 10th Anniversary Brunch on August 30 at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, with organisers offering subsidised exhibition booth spaces as part of their commitment to supporting female entrepreneurship.
The We Inspire Women 10th Anniversary Brunch — themed Blue Dynasty — is scheduled for Sunday, August 30, 2026 at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston. The initiative forms part of the anniversary celebrations for We Inspire Women, which for the past decade has provided networking, mentorship, and empowerment opportunities for females across Jamaica. The exhibition will allow participating entrepreneurs to connect directly with more than 100 women expected to attend, including business leaders, professionals, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives. This is women empowerment networking Jamaica at its most structured — a direct market, a built-in audience, and a decade of proof behind it.
What Is We Inspire Women and What Does It Do for Female Entrepreneurs?
We Inspire Women is a Kingston-based organisation founded in 2016 by Cortia Bingham McKenzie that runs an annual brunch, self-development workshops, and a school-tour programme reaching girls across Jamaica. Its core mission is connecting women — to speakers who share real stories, to peers who share real struggles, and now to customers who buy real products. McKenzie believed the road to success should never be journeyed alone, which pushed her to launch We Inspire Women Limited in 2016, as a way of encouraging women and girls to excel together.
It is this belief that created what the organisation describes as the biggest women’s weekend in Jamaica. The event started in 2016 as the only event of its kind, where influential Jamaican women became vulnerable and showed their authentic selves in order to uplift their community. The first year alone saw over 1,000 women immersing in an experience that ignited their confidence.
A Decade of Reach — What Has Actually Changed for Women and Girls in Jamaica
The event’s impact extends well beyond the brunch table. Since 2016, We Inspire Women has hosted over 20 successful self-development and inspirational events geared towards solutions to problems faced by women in their journey towards success, using the stories of very influential Jamaican women to give hope and impart success strategies applicable to all areas of a woman’s life.
The organisation’s sister programme — We Inspire Girls to Be Strong Women — took that mission into secondary schools island-wide. The tremendous success of the brand led to, in 2017, the launch of ‘We Inspire Girls to Be Strong Women’ — in association with Foska Oats — with workshops in over 70 high schools across the island, where over $1 million worth of educational scholarships have been issued.
The human-level returns are harder to quantify but more striking. Bingham McKenzie noted the organisation received emails from principals — and from girls who averted attempts to end life because of the programme. Women have also advanced in educational goals and left abusive relationships, with the platform connecting them to the right people to assist.
By the 2023 seventh-anniversary staging, We Inspire Women had hosted over 40 self-development workshops, networking events, vision board sessions, and high school tours across the island, impacting thousands of women and girls. The sisterhood movement had also expanded outside Jamaica, hosting its signature event in Trinidad in March 2020.
Past speakers at the women wealth wellness conference Jamaica format have included Juliet Holness, Member of Parliament; Justice Sonia Bertram Linton, Supreme Court judge; Diahann Gordon Harrison, Children’s Advocate of Jamaica; and Donna Duncan-Scott, group executive director of culture and human development at JMMB. The 2025 staging drew over 200 women — mothers, leaders, dreamers, creators, and entrepreneurs — for a keynote from Caribbean Tourism Organization Secretary-General and CEO Dona Regis Prosper, plus a panel moderated by Bingham McKenzie herself.
Why the Subsidised Exhibition Booth Matters More Than It Looks
Here is what most coverage of this female entrepreneurship event Kingston misses: the Misses Merch Village is not a side attraction. It is the article’s structural answer to a specific, documented problem facing Caribbean women in business.
New data from the Caribbean shows that high collateral requirements and interest rates are among the top barriers for women-owned and -led businesses looking for financing — and overcoming these hurdles is an important challenge for the region, especially as firms seek to regain a foothold in the post-pandemic private sector. Getting booth space inside a room of 100-plus decision-makers, at a price designed for micro-businesses, cuts around the finance barrier entirely. Visibility, in this context, is capital.
Founder and CEO Cortia Bingham McKenzie said that for the 10th anniversary she wants to create tangible opportunities for women in business. She framed the intention directly: “The Misses Merch Village is about creating a space within our annual brunch event that supports and amplifies women-owned businesses. As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we wanted to deepen that commitment by making it easier for small businesses to access a room filled with women who value entrepreneurship, collaboration and supporting each other.”
That framing matters because it connects to a wider pattern. While female entrepreneurship rates are comparatively high in the Caribbean, women are usually microentrepreneurs who need more access to finance. The share of women-owned businesses in Jamaica ranged from 32 to 57 percent — above the regional Latin American and Caribbean average of 31 percent — yet most operate at micro-scale. Big numbers, small footprints. Events that put those businesses in front of corporate buyers are doing structural work, not charity.
The testimonial evidence holds. Past exhibitor Narda Lawful Simpson, founder and lead make-up artist of Nardanae Beauty, said participating in the event surpassed her expectations: “It was not only rewarding for my business, but it was also inspiring to connect with other women in business and have meaningful conversations.”
Blue Dynasty: What the 10th Anniversary Staging Looks Like
This year the event celebrates Blue Dynasty — a decade of building, becoming, and creating lasting impact. The brunch experience is designed around inspiring speakers, meaningful conversations, networking, personal development, shopping, prizes, and the kind of atmosphere that reminds every woman of her power.
The anniversary’s planning signals deliberate nostalgia. Bingham McKenzie ushered in the milestone celebrations with a photo session featuring 11 influential speakers who have graced the platform over the past decade, including names spanning the Bank of Jamaica, Red Stripe, the Supreme Court, and the media industry. The anniversary theme will reunite speakers from previous stagings — dating back to the inaugural event in August 2016 — while spotlighting the stories of women whose lives and journeys have been transformed both inside and beyond the We Inspire Women space.
Bingham McKenzie put the decade in personal terms: “The deep joy and fulfilment of seeing the growth of this brand is not just a win for me, but for every woman who has experienced self-doubt while building something that serves the community and advances the growth of women and girls.”
How to Exhibit at the Women-Owned Business Showcase Jamaica
For any small business owner asking how to get in front of an audience of business leaders, professionals, and corporate executives in one room, the registration process is direct. Women entrepreneurs interested in exhibiting at the We Inspire Women 10th Anniversary Brunch on August 30 at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel can register by sending a WhatsApp message to 876-572-1810. The deadline for registration is August 10.
A word on who should — and should not — exhibit here. The networking event for women entrepreneurs at We Inspire is not a mass trade fair. The room holds around 100 attendees, all women, all aligned with the event’s tone of sisterhood and shared purpose. Beauty, wellness, fashion, coaching, and professional services businesses have historically thrived in this format. Product businesses with strong visual presentation or a personal story to tell will convert well. B2B technology or heavy industry vendors may find the fit weaker, and would do better channelling the energy toward exhibiting at the larger Kingston business expos instead.
The Bigger Picture: What a Networking Mentorship Event Can and Cannot Fix
Women in business brunch Caribbean events like We Inspire are valuable precisely because they do what institutions cannot — create emotional safety for honest conversation about money, failure, and ambition in the same breath. Bingham McKenzie’s own words set the tone: “I wanted to use my personal story of overcoming to help other women give voice to their stories. There is so much power in each of our stories, and by sharing our stories, it can help others to rewrite their own stories with wisdom, tenacity, and hope.”
But no annual brunch replaces structural change. Effective programmes and legislation aiming at women’s economic inclusion through entrepreneurship and the promotion of decent work are essential for Jamaica’s development. The CAPRI report on barriers to women’s entrepreneurship in Jamaica identifies systemic factors — access to credit, care-economy obligations, and informal-sector confinement — that a networking event can help women navigate around, but not eliminate. We Inspire Women’s real contribution, across 10 years, is that it has given individual women the contacts and confidence to navigate further than they could alone. That is meaningful. It is also finite.
What the female business leaders mentorship Jamaica community needs alongside events like these is continued pressure on lending institutions, childcare policy, and procurement practices. Jamaica already boasts the highest proportion of female managers in the world — the women are there, educated, capable, and ambitious. The remaining barriers are structural, not motivational.
Register Before August 10
The We Inspire Women 10th anniversary brunch Kingston takes place Sunday, August 30, 2026, at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel. Exhibition registration closes August 10 via WhatsApp at 876-572-1810. Women entrepreneurs who want an audience of over 100 peers, leaders, and executives — plus the momentum of a decade-long women empowerment networking Jamaica brand behind them — should move now. The deadline is short. The room fills up.
Visit the official We Inspire Women event page for full attendee details and ticketing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is We Inspire Women and what does it do for female entrepreneurs in Jamaica?
We Inspire Women is a Jamaican organisation founded in 2016 by Cortia Bingham McKenzie that runs an annual brunch, self-development workshops, and a high school tour programme. For female entrepreneurs specifically, it provides a curated exhibition space called the Misses Merch Village where small business owners can showcase their products and services directly to an audience of over 100 peers, professionals, and corporate executives.
How can I register to exhibit my business at the We Inspire Women brunch?
Women entrepreneurs can register by sending a WhatsApp message to 876-572-1810. The registration deadline for the August 30, 2026 event at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel is August 10, 2026. Exhibition booth spaces are subsidised to make them accessible to small and micro-businesses.
Who is the founder of We Inspire Women Jamaica?
Cortia Bingham McKenzie is the founder and CEO of We Inspire Women Limited. She launched the organisation in 2016 after her own personal journey through adversity, including abuse and domestic violence, and has since led it for a full decade as one of Jamaica’s most recognised women’s empowerment platforms.
What is the Misses Merch Village at the We Inspire Women anniversary brunch?
The Misses Merch Village is the exhibition component of the annual We Inspire Women brunch where women-owned businesses set up booths to sell and showcase their products and services. For the 10th anniversary, organisers are offering subsidised booth spaces to make participation more accessible for small business owners who want exposure to the event’s audience of over 100 female leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs.
What types of speakers and panellists appear at the We Inspire Women event?
Past speakers have included Supreme Court judges, members of parliament, CEOs of financial institutions, media personalities, health professionals, police officers, and senior corporate executives. The event consistently features women who combine professional achievement with personal stories of overcoming hardship, making the panel conversations both aspirational and grounded.
How does the We Inspire Women brunch support women-owned small businesses?
Beyond the Misses Merch Village exhibition opportunity, the brunch creates direct peer-to-peer networking between entrepreneurs and corporate decision-makers. Subsidised booth pricing specifically addresses the cost barrier that typically excludes micro-businesses from professional event spaces. Past exhibitors have reported increased sales, new business contacts, and a sense of community that sustains them well after the event itself.
How has We Inspire Women grown over its 10 years of operation?
The organisation began with a single 2016 event that drew over 1,000 attendees and has since hosted over 40 self-development workshops, networking events, and vision board sessions. Its sister programme visited over 70 high schools and issued over $1 million in educational scholarships. The movement expanded beyond Jamaica to Trinidad in 2020, and the brunch has grown to consistently attract over 200 attendees including high-profile keynote speakers from across the Caribbean.
