The Women in Executive Leadership Solomon Islands (WELSI) have successfully delivered its first Solomon Islands Senior Executive Women in Leadership Program in Honiara last week.
The program was initially devised in partnership with the Solomon Islands Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SICCI), the Solomon Islands Women in Business Association (SIWIBA), and the Institute of Solomon Islands Accountants (ISIA) with support from the Pacific Private Sector Development Initiative (PSDI) in 2023 and continue to be improved over the years to ensure that its content remains relevant to the needs of professional and business women in Solomon Islands.
Subsequent to the four cohorts delivered in 2023 to 2024 under the banner of the Partner Organisations, the course is now delivered by WELSI with the objective of advancing gender development and social inclusion in terms of providing relevant professional development of women in senior executive roles, providing support and networks to advance professional women into CEO and board positions.
The twenty-eight (28) women participants received their certifications for successfully completing the four-day program during a networking event on Friday 4 July 2025 at the Heritage Park Hotel.
WELSI President, Ms Pamela Naesol Alamu, who is also the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ISIA, highlighted that the objective of this initiative is to raise awareness on important leadership matters for professional and businesswomen to be aware of when advancing their careers into higher leadership positions.
“The objective is to support professional women into the business executive leadership space and provide them with the right tools and support networks to progress their careers through that pathway and give them a road-map to guide them.
“WELSI’s objective is to establish a platform, a safe space to support women and provide that much-needed network to empower women.
“We are building a community of professional women where they can access relevant support to build their leadership competencies and, to create a pool of highly competent women who can effectively participate in higher decision-making positions including CEO positions and board positions in organisations in Solomon Islands,” she said.
Ms Alamu reiterated that with this training they hope to provide participants with relevant knowledge and skills in key areas that are important as a starting basis to support them in building their overall leadership skills.
“We want to look at effective ways in which we can start developing women and empowering them with the necessary knowledge and leadership competencies so that they can be effective in the areas in which they serve, and one of the first steps is to have a structured training on fundamental areas considered critical for effective leadership in this space,” she said.
The partnership between WELSI, ISIA, SICCI and SIWIBA, is about taking a collaborative approach with a shared vision of diversity and inclusivity to help strengthen women’s active participation in higher decision-making positions whether it be in business, organisations or on boards or committees.
SICCI’s CEO, James Dolarii said, SICCI, as the peak body representing the private sector, values the partnership between WELSI, ISIA and SIWIBA.
“Supporting and empowering our professional women to by giving them the platform to build their capacity in leadership will contribute to our development, stronger institutions and business performance in a fast changing and growing world”.
SIWIBA CEO Ms Rachel Rahii commended past participants and present for taking up the challenge to enhance themselves with the knowledge and skills through the training that would grow the presence of women in the senior executive roles or higher.
“This program is more than just training; it’s a stepping stone to real, transformative change in our leadership landscape.
“I commend both the past and present participants for boldly stepping into this space and raising the bar for what women in the Solomon Islands can achieve in business and executive leadership.”
With this recent cohort of program graduates, WELSI and the partner organisations look forward to continuing with this program and aim to build a pool of business and professional women with relevant knowledge and skills required to enable them to effectively participate in the decision-making process at higher organizational levels.
The Solomon Islands Senior Executive Women in Leadership Program is a program for women in executive and senior management roles who want to deepen their knowledge of business operations, develop strong networks with their senior women, build confidence in areas including governance, and refresh their professional brand.
The participants of this year’s program, coming from different organisations mostly from the private sector, acknowledged all the partners who have worked together to make this training program possible for women in the Solomon Islands.
