Madalene Xuan-Trang Mielke, President and CEO of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies and founder and principal of Arum Group, LLC, delivered the keynote speech at the 2024 Fanachu Famalao’an: elevateHER summit.
The summit was hosted by the Guam Women’s Chamber of Commerce at the Dusit Thani Guam Resort on Sept. 19.
Her speech centered around empowering women of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander descent speaking from her experience working in several political campaigns.
“Guam also provides a shining example of what we should be striving for,” she said. Mielke highlighted women who hold key leadership positions on the island including that in 2019, the three branches of Guam’s government were led by women.
“Women have always been leaders. The CHamoru culture has been matrilineal for centuries. Your maga’håga’s have long led your people,” said Mielke.
Moreover, she said that women need to stand with one another and leverage the networks and skills in order to achieve their shared goal.
The summit also hosted 10 masterclasses covering topics ranging from wellness, management skills, personal finances, and cybersecurity as well as vendors from women owned or co-owned businesses.
The elevate:HER pitchfest was also held later in the evening which saw three women owned businesses pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and attendees for a prize of $5,000 advertising credit from KUAM Communications, $5,000 seed money from Bank of Guam, and a one-year membership to GWCC.
To view our photo gallery of the 2024 Fanachu Famalao'an summit, click here: GWCC ElevateHER mbj