Sandra D'Souza of Ellect appears on Nasdaq Tower

Sandra D'Souza, who launched her business, Ellect, on International Women's Day 2019, was the only Australian to be selected to participate in this year's Milestone Makers program, which provides individualised business mentoring to a small group of entrepreneurs.

She was among 13 people selected from around the world and, on completion of the three-month program, they were all displayed on the Nasdaq MarketSite Tower at Times Square.

The theme for the course was 'UN Sustainable Development Goal no. 10 - Reduced Inequalities'.

Ms D'Souza said: "I am so honoured to be selected for this program and this validates the importance of Ellect in business as well as its social impacts."

Ms D'Souza's business provides a platform for buyers from medium to large businesses to connect with small business suppliers of diverse backgrounds.

These range from women, LGBTQ, minority and indigenous owned or led businesses, right through to local businesses run by families or those operating in regional areas.

Ms D'Souza said with many businesses in lockdown in the St George area, getting in front of potential new business customers who were looking to support diversity could be a new opportunity for them to grow.

Ellect is hosting the Supplier Diversity Awards 2021 to recognise and connect diverse suppliers to buyers, including women-owned, family-owned and indigenous-owned businesses.

"I realised there wasn't really anything like this, highlighting small business backgrounds," Ms D'Souza said.

"We thought this would help showcase the range of businesses that are out there and how much they have helped the economy but they all have their own story about how they started the business.

"We're also including regional and family-owned businesses, or brother and sister or husband and wife businesses, as they're all part of the diversity."

Nominate a business (it can be your own) at bit.ly/3yOM6pg