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Beyond this shared understanding, there was a desire to go deeper. We felt the need to connect all the elements, to revisit our journey, to examine the opportunities we have seized, the successes and failures we have encountered, and our motivations and frustrations. We gave ourselves the time to explore the underlying mechanisms of our intuitions and ultimately questioned the impact we really wanted to have.
At Empow’Her, each of us observed that women entrepreneurs are underrepresented in the business sector and face unequal access to opportunities. This situation hinders their ability to change the world and fully exercise their rights. Each of us has become aware of this reality in our respective missions and contexts.
We could not begin this thinking process with only the impact of our activities in mind. We also had to consider our strengths and aspirations as a team. Empow’Her is primarily
made up of women and men who work together to promote the economic and social empowerment of women and their ability to take action. It includes projects that are close to our hearts. It includes women with whom we have shared challenges and successes. It represents expertize to be shared and the ambition to make a difference. To do this, we asked ourselves three questions:
What are the issues that stimulate and engage us as a team? What have we learned from our ten years of supporting entrepreneurs in Africa, Europe and around the world? Where do we really add value?
Despite their courage in overcoming the obstacles
in their path, women cannot single-handedly change
social attitudes.
Forcing them to bear the burden of changing a system of
which they are victims absolves the sexist laws, institutions
and societies responsible for maintaining the status quo.
Worse still, this situation forces women to bear the burden
of a system from which they are excluded in decision-making
processes. They are then faced with the challenge of adapting
and integrating into a system that by its very nature rejects
them. As a result, they unwittingly perpetuate this state
of affairs and become unwitting accomplices in their own
exclusion.
This problem ranges from the individual level, where women
experience violence, to a system that perpetuates inequalities.
From economic inequalities to feelings of isolation, from social
pressures... The diversity and multiplicity of gender-based discrimination and violence, coupled with the accumulation
of other systems of oppression, requires an intersectional and
holistic approach. On the one hand, this means recognizing
the diversity of women’s profiles and the existence of different
forms of inequality, without trying to impose a one-size-fitsall solution. On the other hand, a successful approach must
consider a wide range of issues and attempt to act on several
fronts simultaneously, in a necessarily non-linear way.
This
approach makes it possible to address a maximum number of
challenges, while adapting to the specificities of each context
and promoting a shift towards equality.
Finally, empowerment efforts, especially economic
empowerment, cannot ignore work on attitudes and social
and cultural norms, both at the individual and collective
levels. This is crucial not only for the sustainability of the
empowerment process, but also for the soundness of the
foundation of equality that institutions must ensure.
As pioneers in the development of gender and
entrepreneurship methodologies, our strengths today
lie both in the diversity and expertise of the profiles
within our teams and in our 10 years of experience in
the field, working with numerous groups of women
entrepreneurs.
Our global and multi-disciplinary impact
Empow’Her operates at the intersection of several
ecosystems, which we seek to bring together in order to
promote a paradigm shift in society. We facilitate dialogue
and collaboration between diverse stakeholders in
feminism, international cooperation and entrepreneurship.
We are a creative force. Our mindset is impact-driven
and solution-oriented. We enjoy creating, innovating,
proposing new approaches and embarking on new
projects that allow us to continually explore.
We address the needs of a wide range of women
entrepreneurs and have the ability to adapt our educational
tools according to the context and target audiences.
Our worldwide outreach allows us to establish
relationships with a diverse group of stakeholders and
offer a global perspective on the issues we address, while
also providing contextualized solutions.
Crucially, we value ongoing education, drawing knowledge from our internal teams and external collaborators, adopting an impact-driven philosophy, continuously testing our pedagogies through iterations, and more importantly, listening to the women we assist.
During our transition, we were inspired by the thoughts and motivations that drive our team, which consists of members located in various countries and cities, and is truly diverse with a mosaic of locations, cultures, and genders. This diversity brings a multitude of expertise and experiences, creating a dynamic Empow’Her galaxy. Each team member is committed to Empow’Her’s mission, and enriches our organization with their strengths and individual motivations. As we enter a new decade, our shared desires align with four key priorities.
Firstly, we aim to enhance our impact by extending our geographical reach, while also prioritizing deeper engagement with our current women beneficiaries.
Additionally, we are committed to facilitating the growth of like-minded organizations via the Empow’Her ecosystem.
We place great value on fostering strong connections among women and with a wider network of allies.
Furthermore, we take pride in enhancing women’s voices, questioning established systems of representation and challenging prevailing narratives.
“We must have a clear collective goal for our team and work together towards it. It’s imperative that we identify our team’s identity and communicate it concisely.
Our mutual passion, voluntary spirit, and enterprising attitude bind us together. We’re all resolute in our ambition to progress cohesively towards a society that’s fairer, more sustainable and inclusive for all genders. We recognise the need to develop a distinctive vision that is both bright and adaptable to local challenge.”
Aviva Markowicz,
Chief Operating Officer of Empow'Her
On the eve of its 10th anniversary, Empow’Her is
asserting and repositioning itself around the notion of
feminist entrepreneurship.
After almost ten years of supporting women entrepreneurs
on the ground, we have the conviction that the individual
level is not enough to trigger change. We now want to tackle
the systemic obstacles that hinder women’s ability to act.
We believe another way of doing business is possible.
We want to open up dialogue around feminist
entrepreneurship, conceived both as a societal offer and as
an acknowledgement of the various paths women can take
tin their entrepreneurial endeavors. We want these women
to have the opportunity to gain autonomy and become the
driving force behind a societal paradigm shift towards a
more sustainable, equitable and feminist society.
Empow’Her is committed to taking corrective action on all the inequalities faced by women, while challenging the system that perpetuates these inequalities. We bring a gender perspective to all levels of the economic sector. Our aim is to promote impactful entrepreneurship that is both supportive and protective, valuing life experience and learning.
We are focusing on three strategic areas:
01
Making entrepreneurship a genuine path to integration and empowerment for all women
02
Redirecting entrepreneurship’s potential towards a feminist agenda
03
Transforming our economies and societies through a gender-transformative approach
To explore our activity report,
scroll from left to right.
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