Empower Innovation Challenge for Women Entrepreneurs

Objectives

• To support innovative solutions for exclusive economic growth, democracy and human rights. The small grants’ project activities will support innovative local solutions for women-led small businesses and their employees in the green and blue economies and increase capacity to address systemic gender barriers to sustainable economic growth in their communities.
• Through the integration of small beneficiaries as new members of La RED with current members of La RED and in collaboration with interested parties, the associations that will be created will strengthen the sustainability of La RED, impacting a much broader audience of Local civil society organizations (CSOs), SMEs from all these countries, helping to reduce the challenges they currently face.
• The main objective of the Challenge is to ensure that “Women-led SMEs have experienced greater capacity to address systematic gender barriers to sustainable economic growth in the blue and green economies of the LAC region”, so it is expected that Project proposals include several of the following key topics in their implementation plan:
  • Industries related to the green and/or blue economy.
  • Focus on SMEs led by women, farmers or community organizations.
  • Female empowerment: Business development requires a significant dose of female training, through leadership, negotiation and decision-making skills.
  • Business and Circular Economy: Understand and apply innovative business models that are more environmentally friendly, instead of applying traditional business models.
  • Financial education: Relevant topics such as the importance of digital financial inclusion in the empowerment of women, knowledge of banking requirements, guidance in developing a viable and solid business plan, improving your negotiation skills with banks and financiers and their use to be more competitive.
  • Marketing and Commercialization: Strengthen marketing and commercialization skills that allow them to innovate and discover new strategies to increase their sales, improve their image, projection and access to new markets.
  • Market access: Strengthen business skills and technical capabilities of SMEs to facilitate market linkages through this project.
  • Advocacy: Promote democracy and transparency on issues including the following (i.e. prevention of gender-based violence and/or promotion of policies and laws that protect women, indigenous, Afro-descendant, LQBTQI+ and other minority and underrepresented communities in the workplace or at the local or national government level.)

Components

• WEC will provide a roadmap to small beneficiaries to launch a training program aimed at helping SMEs (beneficiaries) improve their business management capabilities. The training is also expected to increase process and product improvements, and help project beneficiaries increase their overall efficiency. The types of training and technical assistance that small beneficiaries will provide should take into account and include some of the following components:
  • Management and leadership (leadership and strategies, CANVAS)
  • Circular business model (PESTEL framework, value dimensions, CANVAS circular business model) and innovation assessment (eco-design, environmental sustainability, introduction of resource efficiency and impact assessment methods)
  • Development of financial skills and access to appropriate financial products
  • Training on process and product improvement to help beneficiaries unlock new and differentiated markets, for example through training on best agricultural practices towards organic farming certification, which in turn opens up new market opportunities
  • Training on competitiveness by increasing productivity and improving production efficiency, along with best practices and techniques to achieve these improvements.
  • Training to improve the commercial skills of SMEs to add value to their products and establish and maintain links with formal buyers.

Funding Information

• The EIC will award three rounds of eight small grants of US$50,000 per grant (each grant implementation period of 10 to 12 months).

Target Beneficiaries: Companies led by women.

Eligibility Criteria 

• Legally registered organization.
• Knowledge/experience of at least 2 years in one of the industrial sectors you will help (demonstrate access to microenterprises or small producers through your work in the sector).
• Experience in collaborations with the private sector, NGOs, government, providing assistance to microenterprises and cooperation programs.
• Experience of more than 3 years in the execution of programs in the proposed areas.
• Permanent formal presence in the country to execute the project activities (Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Peru).
• Project Objective Beneficiaries: Companies led by women and/or civil society organizations led by women.
• Project proposals should include support for training in business skills and capabilities for women entrepreneurs.

For more information, visit World Environment Center (WEC).