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.

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.

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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.

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

Wal-Mart Store Inc. has teamed with the leading humanitarian group CARE to launch a series of programs designed to lift women around the world out of poverty.

The first program to launch is a women owned-and-operated, community-based cashew farming operation in southern India. In India, cashew farming is one of the largest agricultural sectors, and employs mostly women.

The 750 program participants will be trained in entrepreneurial skills to empower them in the global marketplace. In addition, participants will be provided with social services that serve to educate women on their rights, health, and nutrition.

Within a year, the program will expand to help three women begin their own cashew processing businesses. The grant will also cover the construction of 15 literacy centers in the area.

News Release

Maria Teresa Leal, Vital Voices network member and entrepreneur from Brazil, was invited to attend the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, September 22-25, 2009 in New York. Maria Teresa, known by all as Tetê, founded the Rocinha Craftwork and Seamstress Cooperative (Coopa-Roca) nearly 30 years ago. Coopa-Roca currently employs over 100 female artisans in Rocinha, the largest shantytown of Rio de Janeiro. Tetê describes her participation in CGI as a “…spectacular experience and fabulous networking opportunity. It was a big surprise and honor to be invited on stage with President Clinton!”

In addition to being an instrumental networking opportunity, the CGI Annual Meeting serves as a place for members to develop commitments that fit their core business and philanthropic goals. These Commitments to Action are specific and measurable initiatives focusing on diverse concerns undertaken by CGI members. After making a commitment, members report to CGI on progress made over time.

Following CGI, Tetê has returned to Rio de Janeiro with new connections and a strengthened network to fulfill Coopa-Roca’s CGI commitment. As part of this commitment, Tetê hopes to further develop Coopa-Roca’s business model and expand its market presence. She has already begun working with local partners and the women artisans of Coopa-Roca to create and launch a new fashion line and design products under the new Coopa-Roca label. In the next year, this line will be showcased at national and international fashion shows giving a new audience of buyers and retailers access to Coopa-Roca’s unique highly-skilled artisan designs. This increased market presence and visibility will allow for the creation of a greater number of employment opportunities for female artisans in Rocinha. This will allow Coopa-Roca to have a more significant social impact. By improving the livelihoods of the artisans they work with they can improve their living conditions and that of their families and others in their community. Vital Voices looks forward to continuing to work with Tetê and the women of Coopa-Roca as they pursue these goals.

Throughout her life’s journey, Vivian Labib has faced many obstacles as a woman who dares to dream in a male-dominated environment. Today, she’s a leading innovative social entrepreneur in Egypt.

Vivian Labib graduated from the Fine Arts College, part of Helwan University, in 1997 as a decoration engineer (interior designer) with big plans to build her knowledge and gain work experience in the competitive business world.

She began work as a graphic and interior designer, discovering her passion for both art and marketing. She then started to work as a marketing manager for various companies, including international clients in Egypt.

Vivian observed that other designer colleagues produced very unique items, but noticed that they always faced problems with marketing. In light of this, she decided to combine both marketing and the arts in a new venture, and began marketing handmade crafts from Egyptian artisans, locally at exhibitions and internationally on the internet, with the slogan, “100% unique…100% Egyptian…100% handmade.”

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ForbesWoman recently profiled Erin Gorman, acting CEO of Divine Chocolate, a fair trade company partly owned by Ghanaian cocoa farmers. In an article where she discusses her path to Divine Chocolate, Gorman shares her perspective on poverty alleviation through economic reform. She recalls what led her to a company that is directly tied with the farmers who supply their product, and expresses a need to be invested with the reality of poverty alleviation on the ground: “I realized if you didn’t address the root cause, you would never solve the problem.”

Read the full article on Divine Chocolate CEO Erin Gorman: Saving The World, One Chocolate Bar At A Time-ForbesWoman

From left to right: Zoe Dean-Smith, Joyce Kiplagat, Kathleen Vaughan, Rebecca Lolosoli and Karin Shipman

Rebecca Lolosoli is the Director of the Umoja Uaso Women’s Artisan Village in Kenya, a self-sufficient community that was formerly subject to gender inequity that left many Samburu women, like her, disenfranchised. Now through intricate beadwork and entrepreneurial spirit, women in Lolosoli’s village are funding a village complete with schools for girls and community outreach programs.

Recognizing the need to develop new markets and build awareness around the issues that her community faces back in Kenya, Lolsoli attended the Sante Fe International Folk Art Market July 6th through the 13th, and then toured Washington, D.C. from July 13th to the 19th.

Brought to the Folk Art Market by Vital Voices and Bridge for Africa, a fair trade artisan organization, Lolosoli sold approximately $11,000 in artisan products. The Samburu village also received a donation to purchase a vehicle in order for the community to transport their products to Nairobi for sale.

Vital Voices accompanied Lolosoli on some notable stops in Washington and New York. On July 15 she traveled to New York to meet fashion designer Diane Von Furstenburg who placed an order for sample of her beadwork. That night she was received by the Kenyan Embassy in Washington, D.C. who hosted an artisan craft fair in her honor. On July 16, she met with the staff of Senator Barbara Boxer regarding violence in the Samburu area. On July 17, she met with the National Endowment for Democracy to discuss human rights for Umoja women. On July 18, she met with Wendy Ellsworth, founder of Beads for Education, which supports educational advancement for Africa girls.

As Lolosoli returns to Kenya, she will no doubt face great challenges as she continues to educate women on their rights and expand their community programs. However, Vital Voices will continue to support Lolosoli and the Samburu women in helping them to realize their dreams.

Sajida Zulfiqar is a thriving entrepreneur, despite her surroundings in the politically unstable and dangerous environment of the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan. After the sudden death of her husband seven years ago, Zulfiqar rebuilt her life by starting her own furniture business, which now operates out of a factory. Without a grand business plan or training, Zulfiqar finds herself now taken by surprise by her own success: “I didn’t know it would get to be such a big business,” she explains to ForbesWoman.

Quickly able to find a factory space, within a week of her opening Zulfiqar had orders from 10 women who were planning their weddings. In a region known for its furniture craft, she was able to find and train workers easily. Challenges arose, however, when Zulfiqar was faced with the restrictions of a patriarchal society as she tried to expand her business; stares and intimidation followed her during the first few visits to the male-dominated lumberyard. Eventually, the men grew accustomed to Zulfiqar, and now make trips of their own to her factory to accommodate her as a business owner.

Inspiring confidence in workers who are sometimes resistant to working for a woman, Zulfiqar motivates her 70 employees with speeches, treating them as family and advancing their pay when needed. She tells the workers, “This is a joint venture between you and me.” Now thriving, Zulfiqar exports her furniture to Dubai, the United Kingdom and the United States.

While acknowledging her own success, Zulfiqar still laments the male-dominated culture and repression of other Pakistani women. She hopes that she may serve as a model and inspiration for other women to begin their own businesses.

Thriving In The Face Of Taliban Chaos-ForbesWoman