THE beauty of having one’s own circle is having the comfort of freely sharing one’s thoughts, feelings and ideas, especially when it comes to making a difference for the community.
Following its holiday dinner last Dec. 16, the Women’s Circle once again met for an intimate lunch at the Gumamela room of Seda Ayala Center Cebu last Feb. 21. The Women’s Circle gathered in 2017 and has an estimate number 40 members of women leaders from different fields including media, politics, hotel and real estate.
The afternoon was dedicated to drumming up new projects for the benefit of Metro Cebu. With this in mind, Women’s Circle invited guest speakers to aid them in their quest.
There was the National consultant for Cebu Unesco City of Design Butch Carungay, who discussed different action plans in line with Cebu City’s designation as a Unesco City of Design.
“I was very happy to have been able to introduce the different initiatives to the empowered Women’s Circle and I look forward to working with them on a couple of projects,” Carungay said.
Another guest speaker was Cebu City Tourism Commission chairperson Jocelyn G. Pesquera, who shared about the upcoming projects of the Cebu City Tourism Commission, accompanied by renowned fashion designer and commissioner of Cebu City Tourism Commission Philip Rodriguez.
“It was an honor to be invited and be able to present the plans and programs of the Cebu City Tourism Commission,” said Pesquera, who added that the circle can not only be involved with the various activities but also help spread the word about the “Celebrate Cebu” branding.
“We try to have lunch as a group only occasionally as most of us are always on the move or busy with work. But on those rare times we can be together, we try to make it productive,” said Eva Gullas about Women’s Circle. “I’ve been aware of Butch Carungay’s efforts on his Unesco proposal and it was only fitting to invite him to complement Joy Pesquera’s talk.”
Seda Ayala Center Cebu’s general manager Gwen Dela Cruz, and member of Women’s Circle, shared how happy and privileged she felt having them at Seda. “These are women who are successful in their own right, in the position to make change and can make a difference.”
She began the lunch with a quote by Lakota Wisdom that fit the gathering: “In the circle we are all equal. There is no one in front of you and there’s nobody behind you. No one is above you, no one is below you. The circle is sacred because it is designed to create unity.”