Pro Mujer and Google Join Forces to Impact the Lives of Thousands of Indigenous Women in Southeast Mexico

As part of its work to improve opportunities for women in Latin America, Pro Mujer launched activities in Southeast Mexico in 2022, facilitating access to finance and providing training to rural and Indigenous women entrepreneurs in Chiapas, Oaxaca, Tabasco, Yucatán, and Campeche. 

Southeast Mexico has the lowest economic dynamism in the country (CEEY), and it is estimated that 8 out of 10 women in the region live in poverty or extreme poverty (INEGI). However, the area has remarkable cultural, culinary, and historical riches and ample natural resources. 

With the objective of creating a new growth pole in Southeast Mexico and supporting local artisans, entrepreneurs, and business owners, Google.org committed MXN $100 million to help Pro Mujer provide access to capital through microfinance and entrepreneurship training with an intersectional focus to Indigenous and rural women in the region. 

As part of this collaboration with Google, and with support from the Mexican Ministry of Economy, Pro Mujer is proud to launch the “Mujeres: Fuerza del Sureste” initiative.

“Our objective is to use technology to help resolve some of humanity’s biggest challenges,” said Julián Coulter, Country Director of Google Mexico, at the launch event. “This initiative combines access to finance, innovation, and technical experience to support traditionally marginalized communities and provide opportunities to all. With this program, we’re betting on Mexican women and planting the seed of entrepreneurship in the communities that need it most.” 

Secretary of the Economy Raquel Buenrostro Sánchez was also present at the event, thanking Google, Google.org, and Pro Mujer for their involvement in the initiative and collaboration with the government. Secretary Buenrostro also emphasized the importance of pushing for inclusive well-being in Southeast Mexico.

Monica Ducoing, Pro Mujer’s Country Representative in Mexico, shared further details of the initiative and thanked Google and the Ministry of Economy for their support and collaboration. 

The Initiative

Emprende Pro Mujer is an online platform that supports women entrepreneurs working toward economic prosperity. Pro Mujer will use the platform to provide women entrepreneurs with free online training adapted to each business’s needs and realities. Through a series of hybrid in-person/online sessions, participating women entrepreneurs will learn how to sell via social networks, identify their expenses, and make a budget, as well as strategies to increase sales, improve their communication skills, and boost their self-esteem.

Pro Mujer will also implement a digital financial services platform to provide Indigenous and rural women in Southeast Mexico with access to capital so they can strengthen their businesses and boost the dynamism of the local economy. The platform will offer microloans (MXN $500 to MXN $10,000) with minimum requirements and without the need for an established credit history or collateral.

Technology is a powerful tool for inclusion, and it’s critical to focus on ensuring digital equity and digital transformation. Pro Mujer has incorporated digital tools and strategies into all its activities as part of its efforts to bridge existing digital gender gaps by democratizing new technologies, which Indigenous and rural women often cannot access.

The grant provided by Google.org for the “Mujeres: Fuerza del Sureste” initiative is the largest amount of funding provided by the organization in the country to date. Thanks to the support and collaboration of the Ministry of the Economy, the initiative will positively impact more than 6,000 women through access to microfinance and 2,000 more through entrepreneurship training programs over the next two years.