According to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute, women’s economic empowerment could increase global wealth by an additional $ 12 trillion by 2025. Additionally, the Harvard Business Review study claims that women have better leadership skills than men, including important skills such as Teamwork; Innovation; Crisis management.
Georgia is no exception in this direction. Small business in the country today faces many challenges. The obstacles facing the business leaders of this sector became even more complicated during the pandemic. Operating in the current environment is especially difficult for women entrepreneurs and small business owners. The described picture is also confirmed by statistical data. According to the Georgian National Statistics Office, female entrepreneurs in the country have limited access to financial resources, including business and entrepreneurial loans, compared to men. According to the federation of business leaders „Women for Tomorrow “, women have limited access to not only financial but also information resources.
In order to eliminate the problem and empower women entrepreneurs, it is crucial for them to have access to more financial resources and information, to share best practices from industry experts, to develop skills with the help of mentors, and so on. The efforts of commercial organizations can be a significant positive change in this direction.
One of such tools and initiatives is #She’s Next, which will be empowered by Visa in partnership with Women for Tomorrow and Forbes Woman Georgia. Launched in 2019 in the United States, today She’s Next, Empowered by Visa is expanding globally as a part of Visa’s ongoing commitment to support micro and small businesses overall and female entrepreneurs in particular.
„Small businesses are the backbone of local economies around the world. They are the biggest employers, job creators and contributors to the national GDP. At Visa, empowering female entrepreneurs is a business imperative. We support their growth and success and are committed to providing women-owned small businesses with tools, resources, insights and networking opportunities that can help them grow their businesses.” – said Cristina Doros, Visa Country Manager for the Caucasus Region.
Within the 1st wave of Georgia’s She’s Next campaign, Visa in partnership with Forbes Woman Georgia is launching She’s Next portal to feature stories of women in business. These stories show the path that She’s Next representatives have taken to build their business. The reader will have the opportunity to share the experiences of Nino Zambakhidze, Ketevan Bochorishvili, Medea Tabatadze, Anano Dolaberidze and Nona Noniashvili, to get acquainted with their future visions, to understand what challenges women entrepreneurs face at the initial stage of their activity and what methods they can use to overcome them.
As a part of the educational program, Visa and Women for Tomorrow will host 4 webinars from leading businesswomen, coaches, experts and motivational speakers in the period of September 7-27, 2020.
The list of speakers of the program includes Nina Kobakhidze, Chair of the board of Business leaders’ Federation “Women for Tomorrow”; Nino Zambakhidze, Chairwoman of Georgian Farmers’ Association; Irma Daushvili, Co-Founder and General Director, DIO; Tinatin Rukhadze, Founder and General Director of the global research-consultancy company “ACT”; Tamar Kerdzaia, Rector of the European University, Natalia Toloraia, Founder and General Director, Natali Group; Rusudan Telia, Co-Founder and Executive Director of ACT Global; Ketevan Qvartskhava, Partner of the BLC Law Office.
The educational program is available free for all pre-registered participants. Detailed information about #She’sNext educational program is available on Visa’s Facebook page.
