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Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise 2022 List featuring women leaders in social entrepreneurship

EN’s second annual list honours women trailblazers who are helping to shape the European social enterprise ecosystem and leading it into the mainstream. The list is based on more than 500 answers from an open nomination call and an assessment by our esteemed jury, as part of the Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise Initiative.

The featured women stood out as having implemented creative and sustainable solutions to create significant positive social and/or environmental impact. They demonstrated outstanding leadership skills and commitment by going beyond their role and inspiring others to channel their potential.

The recognition is not a ranking but rather a list of those who have shone for their innovative approaches and the scape of impact created. Explore the Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise List below, get inspired by innovative solutions and join us in celebrating the achievements of women trailblazers. 

more details and the full list is here: https://euclidnetwork.eu/2022/03/top-100-women-in-social-enterprise-2022/

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Why empowering female social entrepreneurs is key to economic recovery?

We highly recommend reading the article below, which is a part of the Davos Agenda.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that no institution or individual alone can address the economic, environmental, social and technological challenges of our complex, interdependent world. The pandemic itself will not transform the world, but it has accelerated systemic changes that were apparent before its inception. The fault lines that emerged in 2020 now appear as critical crossroads in 2021. The time to rebuild trust and to make crucial choices is fast approaching as the need to reset priorities and the urgency to reform systems grow stronger around the world.

The Davos Agenda is a pioneering mobilization of global leaders to shape the principles, policies and partnerships needed in this challenging new context. It is essential for leaders from all walks of life to work together virtually for a more inclusive, cohesive and sustainable future as soon as possible in 2021. To this end, the World Economic Forum has served for more than 50 years as a trusted platform where leaders from business, government, international organizations, civil society and academia convene to address critical issues at the start of each year.”

Why empowering female social entrepreneurs is key to economic recovery?

  • The social entrepreneurship sector has proven itself uniquely capable of empowering women leaders in its field.
  • Female entrepreneurs can add substantially to economic growth and poverty reduction.
  • To shape a sustainable and inclusive recovery from COVID-19, we need to include the voices of female social entrepreneurs.

Whether it has been New Zealand under Jacinda Ardern or Germany under Angela Merkel, studies have shown that female-led countries have performed better in handling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yet, according to the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Report report, it will take 95 years to close the gender gap in political representation. Progress in economic participation and opportunity has regressed, with the deteriorating situation forcing gender parity to a lowly 57.8%, which in terms of time represents a massive 257 years before gender parity can be achieved.

It’s also a well-documented fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit women harder. Women have been affected not only because of the disease itself, but because they work in jobs that are less secure. Furthermore, women-owned businesses have particularly suffered – in Canada alone, 40.6% of women-owned businesses have had to lay off their employees. The situation for racialized, indigenous, newcomer, and disabled women is even worse.

2020 has shown us both the disproportionate burden of inequality on girls and women, as well as the exceptional leadership of many incredible women around the world.

Social entrepreneurship empowers women leaders

Women in social entrepreneurship often disrupt many of these patterns of gender inequality. The social entrepreneurship sector has proven itself uniquely capable of empowering women leaders in its field, and of changing the lives and welfare of all women.

Women social entrepreneurs have, time and time again, made a deep impact in their work through a form of impact called “scaling deep” – overhauling unfair and unjust systems, sparking collaborative social movements, and reshaping dominant expectations, norms, and stigmas. Ashoka’s Women’s Initiative for Social Entrepreneurship is currently working to change the innovation ecosystem to better recognize and support scaling deep impact and the women leading it.

Ashoka’s 2018 Global Impact Study found that its female Fellows work within systems and are more likely to spread their idea locally, inspiring replication by other groups or institutions within their country of residency.

Female Fellows were also found to be more collaborative, working closely with other citizen-sector organizations, supporting other women and young people around them, and empowering their own teams. They also reflected a higher tendency to impact behaviours and mindsets: 76% of female Fellows reported influencing societal attitudes and cultural norms as core to their strategy, compared with a lower percentage of males.

The World Bank highlights how through such work and leadership styles, female entrepreneurs can add substantially to economic growth and poverty reduction.

“A man who heads a nonprofit is considered heroic or enlightened, whereas I’ve been patronised numerous times as the charity worker.”

—Kristine Pearson, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Lifeline Energy

Read the full article here: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/why-empowering-female-social-entrepreneurs-is-key-to-economic-recovery/

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This publication has been prepared within INDIGISE project. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

Ogunte – supporte for female social entrepreneurs

Ogunte CIC is a social enterprise and a certified B Corp, which since 2001 the organization has worked to strengthen the voice of female social entrepreneurs globally through Ogunte CIC delivers a large range of products and services all tailored to the needs of female women social entrepreneurs. Some are payed for and some are for free.

Ogunte was founded in The Netherlands by french-born Servane Mouazan. Today Oguntes headquater is in London. Savane worked with helping social entrepreneurs before she started Ogunte, as a volunteer in  community development projects.
The name Ogunte comes from the name of a female spirit, that you find the  in West Africa, in Nigeria and in the Yoruba tradition. But Savane heard about the name in Brazil. Ogunte is a female spirit who cares for and fights for people. That is also what Ogunte does in terms of helping female social entrepreneurs.

Ogunte work builds on the belief of social impact made by women. It is women from all over the worked that  are both influential and connected and have solutions to the social and environmental challenges that the world is facing, and who can contribute to a more sustainable futher for all.

Ogounte offers eg. businessincubator programs, coaching and development of projects that invest in women and girls and in building ecosystems, systemdesign & protyping and also technical assistance to female social entrepreneurs and also to organisations who work to create positive impact for women and girls.
Oguntes work is primarily targeted against women, that is already running a social enterprise.

Ogunte support for social entrepreneurs is structured in five areas that entrepreneurs can work on simultaneously to strengthen their personal and organizational skills and capacities.
Growing leadership, Increased sustainability, Sense of confidence and enhanced sense of learning.

Different tools and ressources are available under the different areas. You ca also choose to work by your self using Oguntes tool “The Beesmap”,  a booklet that helps you to develop your capacity in each of the categories. And if you want soupport coaches are available if you prefer not to do it on your own.

Since 2007, Ogunte has worked with more than 8500 women in social enterprises and their supporters eg technical assistance, social finance providers.

Ogunte also host Women’s Social Leadership Awards, that are cross-country, and celebrate the women, who have had a positive social impact in the area they work in and who can their learning to others. When entrepreneurs apply for the awards, they are asked to prove their social impact and other activities.

Ogunte has launched the #ImpactWomen network also called the “1 Million Impact Women” initiative in an effort to bring together 1 million female social entrepreneurs from around the world in a network by 2020. The network has been created to provide a connecting platform and host informal networking events for women growing their social enterprises.
Through the network female social entrepreneurs can also access information, knowledge and guidance for the connect at global level with other women social entrepreneurs

If you are a woman in social enterprise, at a startup stage, and/or a female business angel providing financial support to women social entrepreneurs, you can register yourself and your social enterprise on the map, and start connecting with your peers. At the current moment 560 female social entrepreneurs form more than 90 countries has registred and added themselves to the ImpactWomen map. You can find the map here

More about Ogunte on: www.ogunte.com

 

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This publication has been prepared within SENBS project No. 2020-1-EE01-KA204-077999. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.