“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”

Kanara Entrepreneurs (KE) held yet another spectacular Members Meet with 120+ Members meeting and networking at The Grand Magrath on 17^th June focusing on the business needs of our GenNow and new Members.

The event started at 6:45 pm with the KE prayer recited by Outgoing Director Mentoring, Leena Lobo. KE President, Clarence Pereira, welcomed us with a little nostalgia sharing the history of KE and its core purpose of Networking, mentoring and nurturing entrepreneurs. He also shared the 2021-22 KE Annual Report highlights and achievements. In closing, he commended on the active participation of the GenNow and Women Entrepreneurs and encouraged women Members to take up Lead membership and Directorship roles to grow KE. Clarence also shared his aspiration of having an all Women Board soon.

It was interesting to note that KE inducted 16 new Members this month taking the India count to 420 and the Global count to 531. While Director Membership, James Coelho inducted the new Members with the solemn oath taking ceremony, Clarence welcomed them to the KE family.

Every Member plays an important role in KE – within and without. The Board of Directors plays a critical role to ensure continued focus on purpose, governance etc. Ivan Fernandes, KE Global Chairman, thanked our outgoing Directors and recognized them for their outstanding contribution.

Outgoing Director Mentoring, Leena Lobo, Director Membership, Pramod D’Souza, and Director Events, Phillip Pais handed the responsibility to the newly elected Directors, who were inducted and sworn in to discharge their duties with honestly and integrity.

New elected Board of Directors are:

Claudius Pereira – President Elect

Anil Monteiro – Director Marketing & Sponsorship

Anoop Sequeira – Director Mentoring

James Coelho – Director Membership

Sunil D’Sa – Director Events

We all love surprises and surprises are good. Dr. Cynthia Menezes Prabhu newly appointed as acting Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University surprised us by gracing the evening with her presence. It is indeed a proud moment for all of us when a member of our community is being appointed to one of the most prestigious positions of the University. The Members were delighted with her visit and congratulated her for her outstanding achievement as she shared with us her journey to success with much warmth. She was felicitated by Ivan Fernandes & Clarence Pereira.

KE Member, Martin Flubber D’Souza, next enlivened the Members with an invigorating ice breaker encouraging everyone to give and take while also leaving the audience with interesting insights into collaborative behavior. This was followed by a focused table networking event led by Vilina Sequeira and Anoop Sequeira as an opportunity to welcome the new and GenNow Members on the table and exploring possibilities to guide and support them.

As the evening ended, KE Members’ achievements were highlighted with much applause. A quick look at our high performers here below:

• Alan Aranha, The Hidden Valley Homestay, awarded 2022 Travellers’ Choice award by Tripadvisor.
• Joseph Fransis, Rishi FIBC, made it to the cover of Asia Business Outlook.
• Peter Anil Rego, Brilliant Printers, awarded Best Enterprise of the year by FKCA.
• Richard Vincent D’souza, appointed Secretary in Charge, Karnataka Public Service Commission
• Robert Cutinha, awarded the Professional Excellence Award by Roshni Nilaya Alumni Association
• Suresh john, acquisition of Shawman Software, by IDS Next Business Solutions

The evening was held seamlessly by the energetic yet cohesive emceeing by Janice Pearl D’Souza and Alan Aranha who blended humor with meticulous time keeping and organization.

Our sincere thanks to the staff of The Grand Magrath for their hospitality to host yet another successful Members Meet.

Reported & edited by Anil Monteiro & Luvena Rangel