Michelle “MK” Klassen Merrigan honored as one of the world’s most successful women business owners during the IWEC Foundation 2022 Annual Conference.
BARCELONA, SPAIN – The 2022 iteration of the IWEC Foundation Conference and Awards Gala, the organization’s 15th annual event, took place Sunday, November 13th through Tuesday, November 15th. The event celebrated the significant achievements of 41 remarkable women entrepreneurs from all corners of the globe, representing a $3.3 Billion economic impact. Michelle “MK” Klassen Merrigan is honored to be one of those women recognized. The conference was held on the campus of IESE Business School with additional venues provided by CaixaBank and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce.
“MK” began her career in humanitarian aid, working frequently in resource-restricted environments. Since 2010, MK has worked to facilitate and accelerate the adoption of strategic solutions for resource equity needs, while also educating policymakers to support smart, affordable technologies that enable creative financial models. MK created an innovative model that allows for emerging technologies to be fielded, and commercialized at scale, inside of the communities that need the solutions most. Knowledge transfer, female empowerment, economic development, and clean climate solutions are the very foundation of this vision.
Ruth A. Davis, former US Ambassador and Chairwoman of IWEC, said of this year’s event: “The 15th annual conference was a wonderful milestone for us. It has been an honor for the organization to hold our conferences all over the world and to have acknowledged and awarded over 500 successful women business owners over all these years. At the conference, we also held curated networking sessions for attendees who are interested in expanding their companies to other countries. We encouraged them to make connections to develop opportunities and form strategic partnerships throughout the globe. Fostering connections and global business development are two of IWEC’s most important pillars.”
Michelle, president & founder of MK Advisors, explained the impact of this award: “The work MK Advisors does is not for the accolades, the reason this award is so valuable is because of the platform, the pedestal, and the microphone the IWEC award offers. The recognition provides a platform that will amplify the awareness of our impact and the work of our partners around the world. For many in developing economies, access to international tools and resources is limited. Through our partnerships, we collaborate on the available solutions, organize collectively to access and implement those solutions, and then access funding and strategic finance to bring proven solutions to scale.”
