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.

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 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

Mary Schnack has more than 30 years of experience in journalism, public relations and public affairs, crisis communications, writing, and marketing communications (www.MarySchnack.com). Mary also has been giving speeches and presentations worldwide for more than 25 years. Mary has established international business alliances in Kenya, China, Iceland, Bermuda and Italy, and has done speaking and training throughout Europe, Africa and in Mexico and Russia. She is a consultant and trainer for Vital Voices and past chair of the International Forum for the National Association of Women Business Owners. She was the recipient of the 2004 U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women in Business Advocate award for the Arizona District and Region IX and in 2008 she was awarded The International Alliance for Women Inaugural World of Difference 100 Awards, Advertising Working Mother of the Year Trailblazer Award and Member of the Year for Women Impacting Public Policy. She is also the founder of a business, www.UpFromTheDust.com, which supports the global growth of women microenterprises.

The number of women-owned enterprises is now growing faster than the economy at large in many countries around the world. Women-owned firms comprise more than one quarter of businesses and are starting up in every industry sector.

Although there are many women business owners around the world already engaged in international trade, studies have shown that in the USA where women own 40% of U.S. export-ready companies, less than 2% of them account for export sales. Other countries have much more robust percentages, such as Argentina with 32% of women business owners involved in international trade, 23% in Brazil, and 22% in Mexico.

For women-owned enterprises to succeed internationally, women have to overcome traditional obstacles and challenges as well as some potential new ones. Women’s lack of access to capital could have a significantly more profound affect when trying to finance expansion overseas.

International trade offers new markets and new opportunities for businesses that can’t be ignored in this global environment. Where are our markets? According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 96 percent of the world’s consumers live outside the United States. As a speaker said earlier this year at the Businesswomen’s Forum of the Annual World Islamic Economic Forum in Jakarta, Indonesia, “The rest of the world can no longer depend on the 250 million U.S. consumers. We must all become consumers for the good of the world’s economy.”

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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

As Vice President of Microsoft’s U.S. Federal Government business at Microsoft, Teresa Carlson shares her perspective and advice as a top female executive in a recent interview. Carlson offers her insight and a few leading tips which have guided her success, including actively building relationships and engaging in philanthropic efforts. Advocating for girls’ involvement in the IT field, Carlson insists that this is a time when investments in education and training are critical for future progress.

Read the full article: Top Women Executives: Teresa Carlson of Microsoft- ExecutiveBiz

In an article examining women as an economic force, CNN writes that women’s earning power globally is expected to reach $18 trillion by 2014, more than twice the 2014 GDP of China and India, according to World Bank estimates. A study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has recently revealed that companies are not harnessing women’s economic power as a distinct force, said Michael Silverstein of BCG: “The current way companies appeal to women is to make a male product and paint it pink.” Despite their growing earning power, women are disproportionately represented in the workplace, with less than 40 of the top 400 companies being run by women.

Read the full article: Women: Saviors of the world economy? -CNN

Economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett examines women’s impact in business with a recent article published by ForbesWoman, ‘Smart Women Equal Stronger Companies.’ Hewlett cites numerous studies conducted by Catalyst, McKinsey & Company, and the London Business School, each of which “demonstrates that companies with significant numbers of women in management have a much higher return on investment than companies that keep women on the sidelines.” Addressing gender imbalances that favor men has been shown to promote diversity by counteracting groupthink, “the tendency of homogeneous groups to staunchly defend wrong-headed ideas because everyone in the group thinks the same way.” Research further illustrates that companies with a high ratio of women in top management positions have been more resistant to the present financial crisis than those without a significant female presence.

Read the full atricle: Smart Women Equal Stronger Companies -ForbesWoman

National Consultant Rehmah Kasule with Ugandan President President H.E Yoweri Kagutta Museveni at the release of the "Gender Dimensions" report.

Rehmah Kasule is an incredible Ugandan woman and past Vital Voices program participant who operates her own marketing firm in addition to an entrepreneurship development agency, which supports women interested in starting their own businesses. Ms. Kasule also serves as a national consultant to the Ugandan government, where she is currently aiding in the creation and implementation of a new government program that seeks to empower women to participate in the growing export sector.

On October 2, 2009, the Ugandan government, under the leadership of President H.E Yoweri Kagutta Museveni, released a report entitled “National Export Strategy- Gender Dimension”, which outlines the new goals:

1. To unlock the untapped potential of Ugandan women and increase their contribution in export trade. This will in turn contribute to the economic and social transformation of Uganda.
2. To add greater value to the current NES initiatives and yield competitiveness and developmental benefits beyond the set targets.
3. To facilitate the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, which emphasize gender equality, in particular MDG Number 3.
4. To create gender sensitive export support policies and to improve and strengthen the capacity of export support institutions to provide relevant, targeted support services to women engaged in the export sector.

Vital Voices is proud of Ms. Kasule’s continued contribution to the promotion of women’s rights!

Full Report

Mary Schnack has more than 30 years of experience in journalism, public relations and public affairs, crisis communications, writing, and marketing communications (www.MarySchnack.com). Mary also has been giving speeches and presentations worldwide for more than 25 years. Mary has established international business alliances in Kenya, China, Iceland, Bermuda and Italy, and has done speaking and training throughout Europe, Africa and in Mexico and Russia. She is a consultant and trainer for Vital Voices and past chair of the International Forum for the National Association of Women Business Owners. She was the recipient of the 2004 U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women in Business Advocate award for the Arizona District and Region IX and in 2008 she was awarded The International Alliance for Women Inaugural World of Difference 100 Awards, Advertising Working Mother of the Year Trailblazer Award and Member of the Year for Women Impacting Public Policy. She is also the founder of a business, www.UpFromTheDust.com, which supports the global growth of women microenterprises.

Whether you are part of a large corporation or have your own woman-owned business, no one is exempt from a crisis. Crises occur all the time and small businesses are often the victim—business loss due to arson, product tampering, someone getting hurt on your premises, or any lawsuit that has the potential to harm your business. Crises are not always “negative” – an employee that wins the lottery may create enough media attention that you need to activate your crisis communications plan!

If something were to happen at your place of business, would you be prepared? It’s too late to develop a crisis communications plan once the crisis hits. You need to have a plan in place with professionals “on call,” know how to communicate both internally and with the media, know who on your team is going to manage the response that gets you through this stressful time, and what message you will want to transmit.

1. Appoint a crisis communications “team” and develop a crisis communications plan. Communicate it to all appropriate parties. A crisis communications plan needs to have systems developed to disseminate information quickly and efficiently, internally and externally, before and after a crisis strikes.
2. Proactive media and community relations programs should be part of your comprehensive disaster plan. Having an on-going public and community relations program with pre-existing, positive relationships with the media and your community will help minimize the impact of many crises.
3. Don’t forget to communicate to your internal audience during a crisis. Internally, you need to “over communicate” to strengthen your internal team and for rumor control. Do not let them hear about your crisis for the first time from the news. Providing no information leaves a vacuum, which is quickly filled with speculation – usually erroneous. Make sure you continue to communicate with your internal audiences as the crisis unfolds and gets resolved. Continue Reading »