Womenable E3 News

"When I go into the countryside and meet young girls, when we ask them 'What do you want to be when you grow up?,' they say 'President!' "

~ Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia.
(Liberia celebrates its national independence day holiday on July 26. Other national holidays celebrated in July include: the United States (July 4), France (14), Belgium (21), Egypt (23) and Peru (28))

E3nabling News

It is our goal, in this quarterly newsletter, to provide a concise digest of news, information and links to 1: educate, 2: enlighten and 3: empower your work on behalf of nascent, new, established and growing women-owned enterprises around the world.

Our subscribers come from all walks of life - businesses large and small, NGOs and MLOs, associations, the public sector and educational institutions - yet all share a common interest in supporting women's enterprise development in their communities and around the world. We hope you find this information of interest.

E1ducate: New Women-Focused International Initiatives

We know that helping women helps communities, and that the most successful efforts take into consideration the multiple roles that women play during their lives. Here are three new initiatives targeting women in the developing world, focused on economic empowerment, business education, and leadership:

Economic Empowerment - The United Nations Women Leading for Livelihoods initiative: This effort is being launched by the UN's High Commissioner for Refugees, and is designed to promote economic empowerment for refugee women and girls around the world. Learn more at the UNHCR web site.

Education - Goldman Sachs' 10,000 Women program: This effort, launched earlier this year, is a business education campaign designed to impart university-based business education to 10,000 women in the developing world. Learn more at the 10,000 Women web site.

Leadership - Vital Voices' Women Can campaign: Launched in March, this effort will get women business leaders involved in being mentors and role models to up and coming women leaders in the developing world, as well as financial support for leadership development efforts. Click here to learn more.

E2nlighten: WE Tube

Interesting videos on women's entrepreneurship

The availability and popularity of web-based video has risen dramatically in recent months, with greater broadband availability, and with the growing popularity of the You Tube web site. But, while much of the video content on You Tube seems to consist of bloopers, amazing pet tricks, and family videos, did you know that there is some very interesting women's enterprise-related content there as well? We've done some sifting, and offer a few links for your viewing enjoyment:

• A brief report on women business owners in Afghanistan from ILOTV (2:13)
  
• C.E.O. Women, a women's business center in California, presents an educational 'telenovela' about starting a business, The Grand Cafe (4:10)
  
• The Women's Organization of Cape Verde offers their story on web video (4:33)
  
• At their national conference last month, members of NAWBO discuss the challenges and opportunities of being women business owners (7:01)
  
• Empowering women business owners in Palestine from CHF International (9:58)
  
• 2006 BBC video clip on women in business in the UK (2:28)

In addition to You Tube, more and more organizations are posting videos on their own web sites, newspapers are posting video content from their reporters, and there are a growing number of web-based "TV" stations, too. Here is some other interesting "WE Tube" content out there on the web:

• SBTV (Small Business TV) has numerous video podcasts of interest to women business owners, including a women-focused page. Also, check out the engaging keynote address of Latina entrepreneur Nely Galan recorded at the recent NAWBO conference in Phoenix. (NB: it's 30 minutes long)
  
• Watch Prowess executive director Erika Watson speak about women's enterprise on HSBC's Business TV.
  
• Inc. magazine has an Inc.tv page containing a variety of interesting video podcasts, including a women's page.
  

E3mpower: New Research Results

Since the publication of our Spring issue, several new research studies have been announced, which you may wish to learn more about, download, and save on your 'womenabling' reference shelves. Here are the highlights and relevant links:

First among them is the 4th annual report on Women and Entrepreneurship from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor analysis team at the Center for Women's Leadership at Babson College. Download the report at the link above, and read Womenable's brief report commentary here.

The World Bank has recently published Doing Business: Women in Africa, a report profiling seven African women entrepreneurs, and highlighting some of the Bank's recent analysis of the impact that leveling the legal and regulatory playing field can have on the growth of women-owned firms in the region. Click on the link above to download the report, and click here to learn more about the World Bank's women-focused initiatives.

The Center for Women's Business Research held a symposium in May discussing its three-year look into Accelerating the Growth of Businesses Owned by Women of Color. Click here to learn more about the symposium, and about new estimates of the number of firms owned by women of color. A report on the three-year study is forthcoming.

We encourage your feedback and comments, as well as your help in spreading our "womenabling" news. Feel free to click below to forward this e-mail to others you feel would be interested in any or all of the articles above. And let us know if there are any aspects of women's enterprise development that you feel we should investigate and share more broadly.

Sincerely,

Julie R. Weeks

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The National Women’s Business Council is a U.S.-based, Federally-funded, public policy advisory body created to serve as an independent source of advice to the U.S. President, Congress, and others on economic issues of importance to women business owners. The Council’s mission is to: conduct research on issues of importance to women business owners and their organizations; communicate these findings widely; connect the women’s business community to public policy makers; and provide programs and platforms for change in order to expand and improve opportunities for women business owners and their enterprises.

For the fifth straight year, the National Women's Business Council is underwriting a best paper award at the 2008 ICSB World Conference for investigations into the field of women's entrepreneurship. The award encourages scholarly analysis and research into all aspects of women's enterprise development, with an emphasis on practical recommendations for policy and education. All appropriate papers, regardless of the track to which they have been submitted will be considered for the award.

Please click here for further information regarding the award.

2007 Best Paper on Women’s Entrepreneurship presented to:

• Orser, Barbara, Spence, Martine Riding, Allan, Carrington, Christine A. "Export Propensity and Performance: Understanding the Influence of Gender."

Women's Leadership Resources:

Women's Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality
IFP/SEED gives special emphasis to "Increasing economic opportunities for women", and to Gender Mainstreaming. The Women's Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality (WEDGE), spearheads SEED's work in this field.

In the English language, a "wedge" is used to pry something open. The word symbolizes prying open access to resources, access to economic opportunities, access to markets, and access to decision-making and control mechanisms to enable women to establish and grow their own enterprises.
website: www.ilo.org/dyn/empent/empent.Portal?p_prog=S&p_subprog=WE

Quantum Leaps Inc.
Quantum Leaps, Inc., is a non-profit organization created to promote women in business globally. Quantum Leaps helps women in businesses make big economic strides by connecting key stakeholders, distributing timely information and best practices within and across countries, and linking effective programs with resources.
website: www.quantumLeapsinc.org

International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Our mission is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people's lives.
website: www.ifc.org/gem

Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
website: www.gemconsortium.org/document.asp?id=401 (for copy of GEM 2004 Report on Women and Entrepreneurship)

Domestic Links

National Association of Women Business Owners
The National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is the voice of America's 10.6 million women-owned businesses. Since 1975, NAWBO has helped women to evolve their businesses by sharing resources and providing a single voice to shape economic and public policy.
website: www.nawbo.org

National Women Business Council
The National Women's Business Council is a bi-partisan federal advisory council created to serve as an independent source of advice and policy recommendations to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners. The Council's mission is to promote bold initiatives, policies, and programs designed to support women's business enterprises at all stages of development in the public and private sector marketplaces -- from start-up to success to significance.
website: www.nwbc.gov

Women Business Research
The Center for Women's Business Research is the premier source of knowledge about women business owners and their enterprises worldwide.
website: www.womensbusinessresearch.org

International Links

Asian Women in Business
Asian Women in Business (AWIB) is established to assist Asian women to realize their entrepreneurial potential. AWIB fills a vital need for women who need information, education and networking opportunities to start or expand their business. AWIB sponsors conference's, workshops, provide individual technical assistance, and serve as a support mechanism for small business owners.
website: www.awib.org

Commonwealth Business Women's Network
The Commonwealth Business Women's Network (CBWN) is a division of the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) and draws its strength from the CBC's global network compromising political and business leaders in the 52 member states of the Commonwealth and beyond. The CBWN works with Businesses & Governments to support gender-mainstreaming initiatives. The CBWN mandate extends to providing global outreach and networking opportunities for women entrepreneurs; creating the linkages between private sector and governments and working with partners to set up "knowledge networks" which would provide invaluable support and advice on funding, sustainability and growth for women entrepreneurs.
website: http://83.138.147.49/cbwn/homepage/index.htm

Prowess
Prowess is the UK association of organizations and individuals who support women to start and grow businesses, through the development of an effective women-friendly business support infrastructure and enterprise culture. Prowess achieves this by raising awareness, providing capacity building support to organizations which provide enterprise support services and by lobbying and advocacy at national, regional, European and local levels.
website: www.prowess.org.uk

World Association of Women Entrepreneurs
FCEM is a non-profit, non-governmental, non-political and non-sectarian organization whose activities at the national and international level are aimed at promoting women's entrepreneurial initiative and reinforcing national associations of women business owners.
website: www.fcem.org

Women into the Network (UK School Affiliated)
Women into the Network (WIN) uses networking, to breakdown barriers, which stand in the way of women's success in business. They offer a whole range of services, including an online directory, networking events and training workshops. The vision of WIN is of progressive and open network where women can learn how to get ahead and pursue their ambitions in an open and supportive environment.
website: www.networkingwomen.co.uk/page/index.cfm

Women Investing in Skills for Entrepreneurship
This program is through the University of Salford and is specifically geared towards women. The program offers training and aims to develop skills to help overcome the barriers faced when running a business. It offers traditional workshops, seminars, mentoring and networking opportunities.
website: www.wise4women.co.uk/

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