Business and Professional Women’s Club

The Business and Professional Women’s Club of Port Moresby was established in 1982 with the express purpose of providing scholarships for women and girls who are unable to continue with their education. It is their goal to promote the interests of and to encourage cooperation among business and professional women in Papua New Guinea and other countries while working for equal opportunities and status for women in economic, social and political life in PNG.

Since its inception, BPW has funded over K1.2million worth of scholarships to over 1,800 women and girls and aims to work with scholarship recipients and stay in touch with them as they enter the workforce as well as providing additional mentoring support for individuals through monthly meetings and short courses and workshops.

The clubs values of Respect, Integrity, Honesty, Commitment & Consistency aligns well with the Sir Brian Bell Foundation. In 2018 the Foundation donated K50,000.00 which greatly assisted BPW’s general scholarship program and sponsored the 2018 BPW Entrepreneurial Training Program in partnership with the SME Corporation (SMEC) to encourage and empower women to run their own businesses.

This program saw 15 women graduate with certificates in entrepreneurial skills. Since 2017 a total of 47 women have undergone the BPW Entrepreneurial Training Program, which they now have high hopes for more graduates in 2019 as the BPW club open their first office in Port Moresby. The club will be hosting 450 people at its annual International Women’s Day Breakfast at the Hilton Hotel in March to raise additional funds for its scholarship program and continue the fight for gender equality, to empowering women and girls in PNG through education.