WIESD - Women at the Forefront of Innovation, Entrepreneurship & SD Edition 2013-2014 | Page 3

What is WIESD?
WIESD - Women at the Forefront of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development is
a one-year program, co-founded by Telma Gomes and Kimberly King, hosted by BTH - Blekinge
Tekniska Högskola, Sweden, at the department of
Mechanical Engineering, under the supervision of
Prof. Tobias Larsson, which mission is to foster
women entrepreneurial skills to apply innovative
thinking, and sustainability knowledge in the
creation of new business or in the growth of
existing women owned or led companies.

Acknowledgements
Our deepest gratitude for the two very first ones to believe on the WIESD idea. Without you two,
WIESD would not be more than a dream:
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Catharina Rosenquist from Region Blekinge
Prof. Tobias Larsson from (BTH) Blekinge Institute of Technology

WIESD program would not be a reality either, if we could not count on the key partnerships of:
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Tillväxtverket:
Länsstyrelsen i Blekinge:
BTH Innovation:
BBI Blekinge Business Incubator:
Netport Science Park Karlshamn
ALMI i Blekinge:
Lund University Social Innovation Center (LUSIC)

Främja Kvinnors Företagande Program
Birgitta Jonasson and Anna Althini
Anders Nilsson and Lotta Clementz
Anders Cronholm and Carina Augustsson
Kerstin Nensén and Petra Arrenäs
Martin Åkesson and Magdalena Ellmén
André Bogsjö

Our sincere gratitude for the funders, partners and truly supporters with a special recognition to
Anders Nilsson, from BTH Innovation, who trusted that this program could create real positive impact
in a group of enthusiastic and powerful women and another two fantastic women, Ana Carolina
Rodrigues and Raquel Viggiani, who were always there when we needed support.
And talking about powerful women, we want to acknowledge all the women of WIESD. Each one of
you brought so much to contribute to the whole. WIESD has been a successful program, because
you gave your energy, ideas and experience to contribute to something bigger than only one’s idea
or business. The connection and network built within the program was one of the most precious
things taken out of this one-year experience. The diversity of backgrounds and cultures (11 countries
represented) was another invaluable asset.
3|W I E S D – W o m e n a t t h e F o r e f r o n t o f I n n o v a t i o n , E n t r e p r e n e u r s h i p
and Sustainable Development