Alyse Nelson, President and CEO of Vital Voices, speaks to a group of women entrepreneurs

Over the last day and a half, a group of women entrepreneurs, all of whom lead businesses that are ready to export to the United States, have gathered in Miami, FL to network, attend capacity-building sessions, and speak with potential buyers for their products. The program marks the beginning of a new partnership between Vital Voices and FedEx. Titled Building Businesses Across Borders: A Training Program for Women Entrepreneurs, the program invited trade-ready women entrepreneurs from across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) to participate in a two-day training seminar and become part of the Vital Voices global women’s network.

While the program opened with a cocktail reception on Monday, it began in earnest on Tuesday. Following introductions, participants heard from Gina Adams, Corporate Vice President of Government Affairs at FedEx, who spoke about her progression up the corporate ladder and the unique challenges faced by women in business. The following sessions addressed negotiation techniques, procurement best practices, and the do’s and don’ts of approaching a company. The day ended with the mentoring session, done in partnership with the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO).

For many participants, meeting with other women business owners, both from across the region and from Miami, represented a valuable opportunity to learn from others’ experiences and to gain insight into the different strategies that can be pursued when looking to export to the US. Without a doubt, all the women who attended have dynamic businesses and a vision for promoting their growth. Different countries present different challenges, and understanding each entrepreneur’s unique context will be key as we continue to support their efforts.

As we prepare to launch the LAC Businesswomen’s Network, we are reminded of the need for a platform on which women entrepreneurs from the region can connect with each other. The region is home to countries ranging from small island nations, such as The Bahamas and Haiti, to large, developed economies, such as Argentina and Brazil. Even within these sub-regions, however, domestic barriers, ranging from legal requirements to transportation costs, vary considerably. Because of this, information sharing will be an essential component of the network.

On Wednesday, the program continued with a session on leadership by Vital Voices President and CEO Alyse Nelson, whose presentation prompted participants to define leadership and identify their personal leadership qualities.

“All of you are here because you are emerging business leaders, but as you all look around the room, you are also all having a great impact on your society, which is truly what great leadership is about,” she said.

Her session was followed by a presentation by a representative from US Commercial Services. The day concluded with a trade fair where the entrepreneurs were able to speak with potential buyers of their products.

A pilot program, Building Businesses Across Borders showed the promise that trade fairs represent for women entrepreneurs with small- and medium-sized enterprises. In the coming years, we hope to replicate such programs in different countries from Latin America, making it local and more accessible to different women. Moving forward, as women’s entrepreneurship continues to gain ground as a viable development strategy in countries around the world, it is clear that there is a need to connect such emerging women business leaders, identify their most pressing necessities, and continue our work to support them.

Yesterday, an exciting new initiative and partnership between Vital Voices and FedEx was launched with the opening cocktail reception of a pilot seminar and program in Miami, FL, Building Business Across Borders: A Trading Program for Women Entrepreneurs. The program, which will continue through today and Wednesday, is aimed towards women entrepreneurs from Latin America and the Caribbean who are export/trade ready and who wish to build their trade capacity and connect with potential U.S. markets.

Participants represent a variety of countries, from Argentina and Brazil, to the Bahamas and Haiti, to El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Their products, from Phelicia Dell’s award-winning artisan handbags to Wendy Martinez’s naturally-flavored liquors, one of two brands made in all of Honduras, to Lorena Piazze’s tempered glass, demonstrate the wide range of industries in which women excel and defy assumptions about what constitutes a “woman’s business”.

Undeniably, the women who have come to Miami embody the entrepreneurial spirit and social responsibility that exemplify women business owners around the world: a deep desire to prosper and, in doing so, to help their communities.

The reception took place at the Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, site of the program, and featured remarks by Alyse Nelson, President and CEO of Vital Voices and Gina Adams, Corporate Vice President of Government Affairs at Federal Express. Ms. Nelson addressed the strategic value of investing in women entrepreneurs and the great reservoir of potential growth women’s businesses represent.

We welcomed representatives from FedEx, the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) chapter in Miami, and the Vital Voices network, among others. Amid food and drinks, entrepreneurs, supporters, and colleagues were able to connect and mingle while participants showed attendees the high caliber of their businesses through product displays.

The evening was an intimate and exciting beginning to a dynamic couple of days. Today, the program will focus on capacity building on areas such as procurement and negotiation and will conclude with a mentoring session with NAWBO members.

The deadline for the global online challenge, Women | Tools | Technology: Building Opportunities & Economic Power, issued by Ashoka’s Changemakers, ExxonMobil, and The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), is quickly approaching on April 14, so if you haven’t entered already, sign up soon!

We are proud to partner in this exciting campaign, which is a call for innovations which enable women to access and use the power of tools and technology to expand their opportunities for economic advancement.

Here are some of the Challenge highlights so far:

· 3 winners will each receive USD $5,000;

· 3 winners will also be invited to participate in a collaboration event with Ashoka’s Changemakers and ExxonMobil this summer;

· Over 35,000 people have visited the challenge online, including investors, media, innovators and many others;

· Visit the challenge online and read the expert commentary, written by leaders from the Council on Foreign Relations, Acumen Fund, Culturas del Sol, Good Capital, and more.

To learn more about the challenge, visit: www.changemakers.com/technologywomen, or email smintz@ashoka.org.

Women | Tools | Technology: Building Opportunities and Economic Power
Ashoka’s Changemakers, ExxonMobil, and The International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) have issued a global challenge for innovations which enable women to access and use the power of tools and technology to expand their opportunities for economic advancement. See Women | Tools | Technology for competition details and deadlines.

Women ONE2ONE
Women ONE2ONE is a growing voice made up of people who know that maternal health, girls’ education, economic opportunity and women’s empowerment are key to fighting poverty and preventable disease for everyone. This campaign recognizes women as change-makers, community-builders and peace builders. Harness your power to connect, take action and shape the future. Learn more about Women ONE2ONE.

Women for Women International
Join Me on the Bridge
To honor the resilience of millions of women survivors of war around the world, Women for Women International is hosting a global campaign called Join Me on the Bridge on International Women’s Day: March 8, 2010. Women from Rwanda and Congo will come together in peace on a bridge between their countries to demand an end to war and to demonstrate that women can build the bridges to peace and development. At the same time and in solidarity, women (and men!) will come together on bridges throughout the world, creating a truly global movement that says NO! to war and YES! to peace and hope. Learn more about Join Women on the Bridge.

The 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, marking the fifteenth anniversary of the Beijing Fourth World Conference on Women, is a year of reflection on the progress on the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Millennium Development Goals. At the opening session of CSW attended by nearly 8,000 NGO and government delegates, the UN Deputy Secretary General, the President of ECOSOC, the Under-Secretary General for the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the Assistant Secretary General Special Advisor on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women, the Executive Director of UNIFEM, and the Chair of CEDAW gave overviews of the efforts made by each of their departments and organizations. They each emphasized that Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has designated gender equality and women’s empowerment as priority areas in the next five years. Women are key to national economic growth, peace and security, and development. While gaps remain between legislation and implementation, the rhetoric must be supported by action to achieve these goals.

According to Ambassador Hamidon Ali, the current President of ECOSOC, this year holds special significance for women’s empowerment. This year ECOSOC will review the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), the global blueprints for gender equality and women’s empowerment. Specifically, MDG3 (promote gender equality and empower women) is considered a goal in and of itself but also as a means to achieving all other goals, since no country can develop without the full and effective participation of women.

While education and the development of national laws have been areas of progress, the global economic crisis has impacted the rate of women’s employment, especially poor and rural women. Other challenges include balancing work/caregiving responsibilities for women, the increase of human trafficking, and the uneven and sporadic progress of women’s equality. There is hope that the new Under-Secretary General for Women’s Affairs will leverage the momentum and strength of the UN system to attain further progress in these areas, in collaboration with the invaluable role of NGOs working with local communities.

The following is a post written by Alison Chatfield, an intern in the Middle East and North Africa Program at Vital Voices. She is a senior at the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University and is majoring in International Development Studies.

“If a woman feels secure with her rights and her family, she will have the chance to venture out for other things,” MENA Business Women’s Network President Afnan Al Zayani said in a January 18 interview with the Gulf Daily News.

Women in Bahrain are currently experiencing a conflict of interest in making the tough compromises necessary to juggle a professional and a personal life. Ms. Al Zayani asserted in her statements that traditional roles and responsibilities are still preventing many women from entering or re-entering the workplace. She said that these challenges can be overcome if Bahrain were to provide more reasonably priced services that support women who work and also have responsibilities to their families. These services include a reliable public transport system, care centers for infants, affordable home cooked food, and care for the elderly.

Bahrain considers its people as its greatest resource, making it equally important for women to be given the same employment opportunities as men. Without supportive services to facilitate the interconnectedness of many Bahraini women’s professional and personal lives, many feel they cannot cope under the pressure and are therefore much more likely to give up work or not return to work after having children. Agency is a key ingredient to professional success, and an increase in accessible and affordable services in Bahrain would give women the opportunity of a level playing field.

Al Zayani’s statements were issued at the second annual Regional Women and Leadership Conference, the same in which Labor Minister Dr. Majeed Al Alawi stated that Bahrain had allocated a budget of BD 24 million, equivalent to just over 63 million US dollars, to be used to help 4,500 university graduates find jobs in the private sector in the next 24 months. Seventy-five percent of those graduates are women. He added that “Empowering women is not propaganda to show we are a liberal society, it’s about employing 50 percent of all assets. We don’t want to lose them, we want to make sure female talents have equal opportunities as men.”

Ms. Afnan Al Zayani will be recognized for her work both in business and public life in Bahrain at the Vital Voices 2010 Global Leadership Awards at the Kennedy Center on March 10.

Source: Workplace Help for Women-Gulf Daily News

In the hill state of Uttarakhand, traditionally marginalized women have formed their own cooperative and are producing processed food items that rival multinational brands in local markets, reports IPS News. Limited by the remoteness of their state, social conventions, and often illiteracy, the women of the region have largely been left out of developmental processes. The cooperative has empowered its members and instilled them with self-confidence, as one woman says:

“I had no self-worth. I just looked after the domestic chores and had no say in decision-making matters in the household. Today, I operate the machines at our processing center, carry out money transactions and have become a popular face at the local bank.”

Now entrepreneurs, the 250 women who form the collective, or self-help group, “have been engaged in community-based activities for over two decades now,” according to IPS News. The women train one another, lifting up the next generation and encouraging sustainable farming and economic independence. In large cities like Delhi, where there is a demand for organically grown products, there is high demand for the women’s produce. Contributing a share of their earnings to a collective fund, the women work collaboratively and invest in educational efforts to enhance their marketing and trading skills.

INDIA: Hill Women Form Cooperative, Turn Entrepreneurs -IPS News

The following is a post written by Breese McIlvaine, a former intern with the Vital Voices Latin America & the Caribbean Program.

Small agricultural projects are developing around the world that empower marginalized populations, create livelihoods, improve health, and help the environment.

All around the world, women face societal restrictions that inhibit their social and economic independence and rights. Many traditionally lack the opportunity to create a livelihood of their own, and as a result, rely on male family members or husband. Their dependence on others can make women vulnerable to abuse of all kinds, including verbal, physical, or sexual. They lose their independence and lack equal rights.

Historically, the role of women in many cultures throughout the world has been to tend to the home, but also the garden and the family’s crops. Therefore, developing women’s capacity to sustainably grow their own food and earn an income from the surplus has proved a successful way to alleviate poverty, improve health, and improve women’s self esteem and social status in their communities as they become more independent and confident.

In the provincial town of Natagaima, Colombia, a local NGO called Manos de Mujer (Women’s Hands) started a project in 2001 that engages local women in cultivating plants that are compatible with the local ecosystem using natural techniques without pesticides or weed-killers. The women are diverse – white, mestizo, and Pijao (the indigenous tribe of the region) come from many villages, towns, and Pijao reservations in the area. The region that used to be mostly tropical dry rainforest has over time become increasingly more desert-like due to unsustainable agricultural methods, deforestation, and cattle ranching. The project has not only given the women a livelihood and self-sufficiency they are proud of, it has also helped restore the ecosystem that had been destroyed.

Such projects not only serve to help women in rural areas. Similar projects are undertaken in cities around the world, several in Africa. In Zimbabwe, urban gardens help women and their communities survive while facing increasingly difficult economic, political, and health circumstances. In Ethiopia, a USAID-funded urban garden project works with HIV/AIDS-positive women and their children to help provide them with sustenance, incomes, and to help build and incorporate them in their communities.

Some of the positive effects of small agricultural projects such as these include improving gender equality, poverty alleviation, helping to address health issues such as malnutrition, and restoration of ecosystems. The communities and countries where they take place benefit from the easing of tensions resulting from the problems addressed by the project, and the increased productivity of its population.

“Colombia: Women Empowered by restoring desertified land,” by Helda Martinez.

“POVERTY-ZIMBABWE: Gardening Lifeline for Urban Women,” by Ignatius Banda.

“Beyond Urban Gardens: Meeting The Growing Needs Of Ethiopia’s Urban Population.”

In rural Colombia, indigenous women are engaging in a community effort to restore desertified land, planting ecosystem-friendly seeds and empowering themselves in the process. Manos de Mujer (Women’s Hands) is an NGO that works with over 900 women in the southern province of Tolima, encompassing 56 villages, townships and Pijao native community reservations. Claudina Loaiza left an abusive relationship and settled nine years ago on a small plot of land, which she has since expanded to sustain the growth of various crops, including beans, watermelon, plantain, cassava and corn, all grown without the use of weed killers or chemicals. Loaiza told an IPS News reporter that she works the land using only natural techniques, reviving once-barren and undernourished soil. Women like Loaiza are empowered as they witness the growth of their crops and realize that they are self-sufficient. Loaiza says of the work of the women and its impact:

“What we want to do is build. Not destroy. We need to…revitalize the region.”

Colombia: Women Empowered by Restoring Desertified Land -IPS Newst

Sandra Kasonso is a valued member of the Vital Voices network. We were first introduced to Sandra in 2007, when she attended Vital Voices of Africa: A Leadership Summit for Women and Girls, a summit hosted by Vital Voices in Cape Town, South Africa. Sandra most recently participated in a Vital Voices Women’s Artisan Product & Business Development Program training held in Nairobi, Kenya. The following is a blog post written by Sandra about her experience organizing a Global Women’s Mentoring Walk in Zambia.

My name is Sandra Ndona Kasonso. I first heard about Vital Voices from the American Center in Zambia when a staff member, Betty Nalungwe, nominated me to attend the leadership summit in Cape Town in 2007. The article I am writing is about the mentoring walk I organized with five friends in Zambia.

Vital Voices Network member Sandra Kasonso

I can’t remember when I first saw the mentoring walk email from Vital Voices requesting interested people to participate. I took an interest but wasn’t sure I could commit and so I ignored it. Months later I was telling Melysa Sperber, Vital Voices’ Global Grants Manager, about my girls club and how I wanted to help the girls achieve their dreams. I was looking for ideas when Melysa suggested the mentoring walk. I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get involved and requested more information, which Global Programs Assistant Nicole Hauspurg sent. After going through the mentoring walk tool kit and overview I thought it was a great idea and passed the overview to friends for comments and support.

I mainly had to fight my self-doubt. First, I asked myself where would I start? Did I have what it took to lead this? So I hung back.

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