In honor of International Women’s Day 2021, Sausalito Sister Cities hosted a virtual celebration with our Sister City of Viña del Mar, Chile.
On March 8th, we joined our fabulous collaborators at AGEP (the Union of Women Business Owners and Professionals) to celebrate courageous women past and present. We honored the Female Entrepreneur highlighted in Valparaíso by the Regional Mypime Federation: Patricia Alcaíno Pereira, founding partner of AGEP-V and owner of Hostal Destino Bellavista.
Representatives from Sausalito and Viña also shared stories of famous women from our home regions. Each of the stories showed a challenging beginning, struggle to progress, and conviction of purpose and rights.
From Sausalito, we celebrated local legend Sally Stanford. The women of Viña loved hearing the tales of this former madam who eventually became our mayor. Read her story or watch the full presentation now:
From Viña, we learned the story of Gabriela Mistral, the first Latin American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature.
In addition to an inspiring presentation, our friends in Viña shared a poem by Mistral:
This virtual celebration was part of our ongoing series of bimonthly meetings to share resources and strengthen our connections with AGEP. In one of our first online meetings, we saw firsthand how they have continued to reach new audiences online despite global lockdowns. That meeting was the virtual launch of Vitrina Circular, an online market platform to connect micro-businesses and sell their products safely online.
They’ve also shared incredible stories with us and reminded us of our global bonds. In another Zoom, several women shared tales of family members who lived the real-life inspiration for Isabel Allende’s latest novel, A Long Petal of the Sea. A native Chilean and longtime Marin County resident, Allende recounts the true story of Pablo Neruda helping over two thousand refugees of the Spanish Civil War reach Chile.
AGEP continues to be a cornerstone of the Sausalito – Viña del Mar program. Since 2011, we have enjoyed mentoring AGEP members, empowering the women through leadership workshops, and welcoming them to the Bay Area for entrepreneurship training. It was a joy to celebrate International Women’s Day with these hardworking women!
