Gloria Berthold went to the Middle East as a harbinger of empowerment and opportunity.
“The purpose of the trip was to help women in the Middle East and North African countries start to develop some sort of economic independence, because culturally that is not what they normally do,” said Berthold,president of TargetGov at Marketing Outsource Associates (MOA). She was a U.S. delegate at the Middle East North Africa Businesswoman?s Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State?s Middle East Partnership Initiative.
Berthold has a knack for enabling business growth. Her company is a business development firm that helps clients with government contracting.
“Trying to get business in the government was a nightmare; it just doesn?t follow the normal rules of engagement that we?re used to in the corporate [business to business] environment,” she said. “The main problem was [small business owners] couldn?t find the decision makers.”
Berthold developed a comprehensive database of local, state and federal government agencies, officially launched in April 2004 at TargetGov. Clients buy subscriptions to the database.
Through her involvement with the government, Berthold discovered WIPP, or Women Impacting Public Policy (www.wipp.org).
“Laws being passed that impacted me as a female business owner, and we weren?t hearing about it in the news. WIPP seemed to be on top of it,” she said.
Through a self-nomination and selection process, Berthold was chosen, along with two other WIPP affiliates, to attend the October 2006 summit, said WIPP spokeswoman Brenda Jones.
“It is important for our members to be personally involved in mentoring other women,” said WIPP president and co-founder Barbara Kasoff. “We have gained a sense of how much influence women can have in impacting change.”
Berthold led roundtables on the value of business associations and mentoring, in addition to other topics, she said.
“A big lesson I learned was that the ability to honor each other in our endeavors is what being successful is all about. They were grateful that we came over and talked to them on a one-on-one. It was a very eye-opening endeavor, plus I got a chance to ride a camel,” Berthold said.
Since her return, she has received inquiries from U.S.-based clients interested in expanding their business to the Middle East and North Africa. Additionally, some of her new Middle Eastern contacts wish to explore business in the United States.
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