You really don’t know what to expect when you put a dozen-plus Caribbean entrepreneurs in one room for a week.

But one thing was clear when 15 entrepreneurs—all women—came together in Port of Spain in April. It was the start of something good.

The ladies gathered to share experiences and build strategies for future collaboration. Besides their Caribbean heritage and passion for productivity, these go-getters had something else in common. Each had been competitively selected to take part in the first-ever facilitators training for the Women’s Innovation Network of the Caribbean (WINC) program. The initiative is a World Bank project to support woman entrepreneurs in the region. It is funded via the Canada Development Bank.