Bahamian girl bosses are on the rise and with the help of some local female entrepreneurs some 100 young female Bahamian aspiring entrepreneurs are on their way becoming equally as successful.

The ladies, who are a part of the Inspire Her programme, attended the first session in a series of seminars geared towards getting more females in leadership roles.

The Inspire Her campaign put on by the CitiBank and the Junior Achievement Association of The Bahamas invited Bahamian females between the ages of 15 and 30-year-old to submit an executive summary or a business plan for a company they want to start.

Acting Executive Director of Junior Achievement Philip Simon explained why this event is geared toward women.

“Men get a lot of attention and sometimes we inadvertently overlook our young women and just think they always have it all together,” he said. “But a lot of the conversation we are having nationally indicates that we need to pay as much attention to our young women as we do our young men.

“This is something that originated as a regional programme with CitiBank and Junior Achievement. Women are essentially the backbone of every economy.”

The competition of sorts consists of a three part series, which started yesterday with a seminar on new venture creation at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel.

Mr. Simon explained that 20 of the participants will be chosen and vetted and then five of them will be granted $5,000 towards starting their businesses.

The ladies yesterday heard from Bahamian entrepreneurs like media leader Debbie Bartlett, Police Superintendent Elaine Sands, Tanya Wright and Keshelle Kerr.

“Mindset is a big thing,” Kerr said. “We have to develop that mindset from an early age and then there’s not a lot of places to go for education on these things and then there’s the issue of inspiration, we need to inspire our ladies and give them that spark.”