‘Empowering’ GirlDreamer wins Asian Business Chamber’s top prize

The vision of GirlDreamer, a non-profit organisation that empowers young women of colour, has come true after being crowned as the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce (ABCC) Business of the Year.

Amna Akthar, the founder of GirlDreamer collected the overall Business of the Year award, sponsored by Practice Plus Group Birmingham Hospital at the ICC, after being named as the Outstanding Female Entrepreneur of the Year.

The headline sponsors for the awards were Doug Wright trading as McDonalds and South and City College Birmingham. The event was hosted by former Eastenders star Nitin Ganatra.

Amna started her entrepreneurial journey with a desire to address the systemic barriers faced by thousands of young women of colour in accessing leadership opportunities. She co-founded GirlDreamer, driven by passion and a commitment to creating change.

During the past year, the non-profit organisation launched the GirlDreamer Advocate (GDA) initiative, a programme set to engage with high-net-worth individuals (HNI) and influential supporters to provide funding and connections.

GirlDreamer also managed to secure £120,000 from the Alliance for Gender Equality in Europe to expand. This allowed them to provide crucial financial support to women of colour social entrepreneurs, enabling them to grow their ventures and make a broader impact on their communities.

Amna was hand-selected by former US president Barack Obama to be one of 12 leaders globally chosen for the Obama Foundation Global Scholarship at Columbia University in New York City.

Her desire for change comes through her own experience where she witnessed the challenges faced by women of colour, particularly in accessing leadership opportunities and spaces that nurtured their potential.

Fuelled by this desire, Amna also launched Dream Days, an initiative designed to take young women out of their usual environments and circumstances to show them an alternate way of living that they could achieve if they pursue their talents and leadership potential.

Through immersive, real-world experiences, Dream Days provides our community with exposure to new opportunities, helping them envision a future where their aspirations can be realised.

The judging panel, chaired by Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce director of external affairs Raj Kandola, were impressed by the perseverance of GirlDreamer in becoming a strong force of representation for women of colour.

Raj said: “On behalf of the judges, I'd like to congratulate GirlDreamer on their historic win.

"GirlDreamer’s entrepreneurial journey is a testament to Amna’s resilience and vision.

"The judges were particularly impressed with the work GirlDreamer have undertaken with underrepresented communities and the desire to empower members of those communities to access leadership opportunities.

"As previous winners will testify, winning this award can act as a significant springboard to further success and we look forward to watching Anna grow and develop the business in the years to come."

ABCC president Omar Rashid announced a new platform to equip Asian business owners to be able to pitch for funding and the opportunity to do so with interested investors.

He said: “On average, nearly one in two Asian business owners stop working on their business idea because they're unable to raise funding.

“This is such a shame and a passion of mine when becoming President was to create a platform to equip Asian business owners to be able to pitch for funding and the opportunity to do so with interested investors.

“This initiative hopes to bring this vision into reality and I am so excited to be working with our partners to do so. There will be an introduction session in January where more details will be revealed.”

Award Winners:

Outstanding Charity of the Year – Sponsored by Sponsored by Our Training Department
Winner - Focus Birmingham

Outstanding Contribution to Diversity & Inclusion - Sponsored by South and City College Birmingham
Winner - Connected Places Catapult

Outstanding Female Entrepreneur of the Year - Sponsored by South and City College Birmingham
Winner - Amna Akhtar - GirlDreamer

Outstanding Male Entrepreneur of the Year – Sponsored by Scholars School System
Winner - Farhad Tailor - V12 Sports & Classics

Outstanding Professional Services Business of the Year – Sponsored by Housman Consulting
Winner - Lawrence Kurt Solicitors

Outstanding Small Business of the Year – Sponsored by Oxford Innovation
Winner - Primo Dialler

Outstanding Start-Up Business of the Year – Sponsored by Shakespeare Martineau
Winner – Kapadia Rose

Outstanding Young Achiever of the Year - Sponsored by Pathway Group
Winner - Kiran Shergill - Barclays

Pictured: All winners on stage