whats in a name

What's in a name. If you have little as part of your name, but in reality you turn out to be a Very Great person in life - the naming is a paradox isn't.

I am going talk about Ms Virginia Littlejohn, the champion for women entrepreneurship - not only in her native land - the land of opportunities USA, but also globally. She now spends most of her time, in the most happening places or should I say countries China and India where she is currently engaged in launching the WE Connect program as part of the global supplier diversity program.

Virginia Littlejohn is CEO and Co-Founder of Quantum Leaps, Inc., which shares women entrepreneurial best practices, and facilitates their access to markets. She is also Chairman of TradeBuilders, Inc., which provides virtual trade missions and online conferencing.

Her primary focus for several decades has been advocacy on behalf of women entrepreneurs. Let me try to list down what all positions she had held since 1970

• In the late 1970s, was an adviser to the Carter Administration’s efforts to advance women owned businesses.
• In 1980, was selected the SBA’s first National Women in Business Advocate of the Year
• In 1982-84, served as President of the Capital Area Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO),
• As VP-Public Affairs for national NAWBO, organized its first two National Public Affairs Days.
• In 1984-85served as NAWBO’s national President.
• In 1985-1986, chaired NAWBO’s highly successful efforts to get its members elected as delegates to the 1986 White House Conference on Small Business.
• In 1988, was one of the primary architects of HR 5050, which was signed by President Reagan on October 25, as the Women’s Business Ownership Act of 1988.
• Subsequently, she served two terms on the National Women’s Business Council (NWBC).
• She wrote a case study on women entrepreneurial advocacy from 1974 to 1984, published in the book, Women in Washington: Advocates for Public Policy.
• Also has been a delegate to all three White House Conferences on Small Businesses, in 1980, 1986 and 1995.
• In 1984 served on the Steering Committee and then as Vice President of the World Association of Women Entrepreneurs (Les Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises Mondiales, or FCEM),
• Was the OECD's Senior Advisor for its 1997 and 2000 conferences in Paris on women owned SMEs.
• In June 2004 organized and co-chaired the OECD's Accelerating Women's Entrepreneurship Forum in Istanbul , which shared global best practices with women entrepreneurs, advocates and policymakers from more than 80 countries.
• Has served on federal advisory commissions in the US focused on entrepreneurship and international trade;
• chaired international trade committees for the US Chamber of Commerce’s Council on Small Business and US Small Business Legislative Council;
• brought international expertise to SME advisory boards organized by IBM and American Express.
• worked extensively with international bodies and policy forums on initiatives concerning entrepreneurship, trade and supply chains.
• has trained women entrepreneurs and SMEs from more than 20 countries in advocacy, including many countries in the greater Middle East

She is now working with Global 500 corporations, multilateral organizations and associations in the US, as well as Canada, China, India and the UK, on getting certified women’s business enterprises into the global supply chain.

She has won numerous American and international awards for her entrepreneurial advocacy efforts, including a Lifetime Achievement award she received in Beijing in 2007 from the America-China Business Women’s Alliance.

The primary national activity that Ms. Littlejohn is currently working on for Quantum Leaps, in cooperation with the NWBC and the major women’s business associations, is to develop The Roadmap to 2020 to fuel women’s enterprise development in the United States between 2009 and 2020. This dynamic strategic action plan will be released in November 2008.

I can go on and on like this about her, but even that wont be enough. For all her achievements, she is such a simple and down to earth person that who ever meets her become charmed by her for life. You dont feel that you are meeting her for the first time. In fact, when I received her in Chennai on Friday, it was the second time I was meeting her. The first time was at Florida, where on her initiative, I had presented about India as a Sourcing Destination apart from the other 3 international presenters from Canada, UK & China. to the Global Business Committee meeting of WBENC in Miami on June 30 2006. With that one meeting, she has become so much close to me and it felt as if I knew her all her life. That is the power of being genuine and having a heart that overflows with love for humanity, understanding the problems of people who do multitasking,

During her visit to India last week, despite her hectic schedule, she readily agreed to come over to Chennai and be my guest for the week end. Despite her body needing rest, she was game for a full day filled with activities. We both came home at around 11.30 on Friday night and after dinner, she started working on her laptop attending to all important mails, then was preparing for the next day session till about 3.00 pm and then went to sleep. In the morning she got up early and started catching up with her work and was ready at the venue at 10.20 for our meeting arranged by ewit on the topic " "Relevance of Entrepreneurial Skills in a Corporate Environment " till up to Lunch.

Then we went for a whirlwind tour of Chennai. She was always fresh as a daisy, while I was constantly yawning. What a amassing mental strength she was displaying. The evening was a 2 hours of intensive interactive session at our company on " Women Balancing professional work life and their personal life". Every one of the attendees became her admirers after the session. The whole day ended by her catching the night train to Bangalore. I just have one word to sum her up WOW. She is truly an incredible human being on the earth. and it is a great privilege to know her.

May God be with you in all your endeavours and keep giving you all the strength you require for your 20 hours workdays even at your age.