SOLANA “Rise and Shine” event

On 29 August 2026, Sun Estates Developers Goa hosted the first edition of the SOLANA “Rise and Shine” event at Hilton Goa Resorts, Candolim, under the theme “The future isn’t waiting for permission, and neither are we.” The event brought together entrepreneurs, business leaders and public figures for a day focused on women’s leadership, entrepreneurship, financial independence and the role of Artificial Intelligence.

As this was the inaugural edition, SOLANA’s founders — Suraj Morajkar, Sanjana Morajkar, Asha Arondekar and Sakala Apachu Debrass — welcomed the gathering and shared a few words to open the event. The programme was graced by two special chief guests, Rohan Khaunte, Goa’s Minister for Tourism, and Urmila Matondkar, veteran Bollywood actress.

The event began with a keynote address by K. Ratna Prabha, former Chief Secretary of Karnataka, who spoke about promoting women’s economic independence and shared experiences from her work empowering women and creating opportunities for them. Three panel discussions were conducted during the event. The first panel, “Startup to Scale Up,” focused on the challenges of scaling a business, maintaining work-life balance, being open to opportunities and understanding one's strengths and weaknesses as an entrepreneur. The second panel, “Women in Leadership,” discussed leadership, overcoming perfectionism, building self-confidence and not waiting for external validation. The third panel, “Women and AI,” explored the limitations of Artificial Intelligence, the importance of critically evaluating AI-generated information and the issue of bias in AI systems.

The event also featured inspiring sessions by Lilian Ong on courage and intentional action, Dr. Aditi Govitrikar on confidence and trusting one's inner voice, and Sulakshana Sawant on women's financial security and the impact of stereotyping. Sumana Dutta conducted a session on financial planning and different categories of financial funds.

The programme concluded with a special felicitation ceremony honouring Shashi Soni, Libia Lobo Sardesai and Manuela Franco for their contributions and achievements. Shashi Soni and Manuela Franco also addressed the gathering.

Four students from the Department of Computer Engineering, Don Bosco College of Engineering, attended this one-day programme: Prutha Delekar, Lisma Pereira, Chelsea Vaz and Krisha Shet. Their participation provided them with valuable exposure to inspiring leaders and important discussions on entrepreneurship, leadership, financial independence and Artificial Intelligence. The event was an enriching experience for the students and encouraged them to develop confidence, leadership qualities, critical thinking and awareness of emerging opportunities in technology and entrepreneurship.