Daughter of former domestic worker in UK helping women succeed in business

Filipino-British executive Gina Romero, one of the founding members of the Athena Network Singapore, said her desire to help other women succeed in business is motivated by her Filipino mother, a former domestic worker. Romero’s mom, who only had high-school education, was “tenacious and determined to find an opportunity outside of her hometown and help her family.” She worked as a domestic helper in the United Kingdom, where she met Romero’s British father. Romero, 37, said her work with Athena is “in gratitude to my mom who gave me all the opportunities I have because of her courage and spirit of adventure.” Athena is a business networking organization that helps female executives and entrepreneurs grow their companies through shared knowledge and experiences. Romero's hero Romero said her mom is her “hero” as she exemplifies the Filipino spirit, “overcoming adversity against all odds.” Romero was born in Angeles City and moved to the UK when she was six months old. She had an “unconventional life.” Not having any passion for traditional learning, she dropped out of school and went into business, later becoming a long-haul flight attendant for British Airways for 10 years. Paying forward A big believer in “paying forward,” Romero discovered Athena Network UK back when she was running a small IT solutions company in London for 7 years. “I was new to the business world, and I needed the support and expertise of women more experienced in business, as well as a platform to find business opportunities,” she said. Through Athena, Romero was able to connect with other entrepreneurs, who helped her and her husband increase their company’s annual revenue from $30,000 to $800,000 in less than three years. Having seen how business networking has helped her grow her company, Romero thought of bringing Athena to the Asia Pacific region when a job opportunity for her husband opened up in Singapore. Athena Network Singapore In 2011, Romero launched Athena Network Singapore with co-founder Claire Kidd, envisioning a “community of women who share experience and skills and support each other on their business journeys.” Starting with just “a shoestring budget of $100,” Romero and Kidd were able to build up the network, organizing over 45 events and attracting more than 1,300 attendees who get business development and networking strategy training and entrepreneurial advice from other members. Because the network is limited only to members, Romero is hoping to build its online community and expand its reach. “I know a lot of Filipinas are inspired by what we do and want to be a part of it. Unfortunately, we have limited online resources right now,” Romero said. According to Romero, too many women never reach their full potential in business because of the lack of training for essential skills in running a company “If we could build a platform where training resources could be pooled, we can offer free access to women in the region who wouldn’t be able to afford the training.” #planwAthena Athena Singapore is competing for a $10,000 prize this week to win funding for a social enterprise to empower women through learning. According to a report of the San Francisco Chronicle, Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks company, has offered a prize of $10,000 to a Singapore-based project as part of the celebration of Social Media Week. The projects being considered for the award are those that support their US$10 Million ‘Plan W’ initiative to empower 2 million women in Asia pacific by 2017. The Athena Network Singapore's #planwAthena is one of the three shortlisted projects competing for the $10,000 prize. The  #planwAthena project seeks to create an online knowledge network to promote social mobility.  The competition ends at 2:00 p.m. on February 22. - with Andrei Medina, VVP, GMA News