Women’s entrepreneurship fosters growth while boosting and invigorating the economy. However, a challenging reality continues to loom in the shadows: equal access to education and financing, two fundamental pillars for the expansion of women’s businesses, remain out of reach, limiting their potential.
In order to address these obstacles, Pro Mujer has developed Emprende Pro Mujer, a platform dedicated to women seeking economic prosperity through entrepreneurship, which, in less than 3 years, has benefited more than 66,000 women in 23 countries in the Americas.
The platform supports women in their journey as entrepreneurs, providing access to knowledge and educational content according to their needs and to what stage their business is in. All through a business’ conception, set up, development, and strengthening, Emprende Pro Mujer has broadened its scope by incorporating Expande Tu Negocio (Expand Your Business), an ideal extension for women interested in reaching new markets, where entrepreneurs can access sessions with specialists as well as individual mentoring to enhance their learning.
In each of the programs, the participants acquire digital, leadership, management, personal development, finance, and sales skills. In addition, they connect with other entrepreneurs and businesswomen in the region, creating a network that strengthens their performance.
Focusing on the mission of empowering vulnerable women to reach their full potential, in 2022, Pro Mujer developed a hybrid training model aimed at rural and Indigenous women that has benefited more than 3,000 women entrepreneurs.
Designed from an intersectional perspective that integrates solutions to address the particular constraints of women entrepreneurs in challenging contexts, it currently operates in southeastern Mexico and Central America (Guatemala and El Salvador), as part of our commitments to Partnership for Central America (PCA). The hybrid model offers face-to-face training sessions guided by facilitators who are experts in the field and digital sessions conducted through WhatsApp, the most affordable network for women with limited connectivity and limited digital skills.
Moreover, Pro Mujer has removed the language barrier for Indigenous women entrepreneurs. In southeastern Mexico, it offers educational audio materials translated into Tseltal and Mayan, and an audio soap opera, María la Emprendedora, which seeks to strengthen women’s self-esteem and improve their self-perception. In Guatemala, on the other hand, support materials were translated into two of the most widely spoken Mayan languages in the country, Quiché and Kaqchikel.
The hybrid model has proven to be an effective program that fulfills its purpose of expanding opportunities for women who tend to have a basic level of education, run informal businesses, and combine economic activities with domestic responsibilities. According to the results of an evaluation conducted by Grupo Impacta in southeastern Mexico, 84% of the women entrepreneurs who participated have adopted at least three out of four fundamental business practices, and 49.6% of the beneficiaries say that they have increased their savings capacity thanks to the program.
In addition, in line with one of its strategic imperatives, Pro Mujer has expanded its geographic footprint and announced at Clinton Global Initiative’s 2023 annual meeting that Latin American women who have migrated to the United States will be able to access Emprende Pro Mujer free of charge and online.
Women interested in accessing Emprende Pro Mujer can access the platform through the webpage https://bit.ly/EmprendeUSA2023 from any web browser. The program, which has a specific module for migrant women, develops leadership, management, finance, technology, and sales skills, and boosts self-esteem. So far, it has reached over 600 women.
Emprende Pro Mujer, A Cutting-Edge Platform
One of the platform’s latest initiatives was the launch of its revamped version, Emprende Pro Mujer 1.5, which seeks to be more scalable, intuitive, and interactive, covering more programs and territories.
Users have access to a 100% newly improved platform, which can be accessed via desktop or mobile devices. They can manage their own time and availability and begin training immediately upon enrollment. In addition, each user can view her progress along the learning path, the days remaining to complete a program, and the total number of exams passed. The team in charge of this new version took full advantage of the technology available and completely streamlined the data collection process. What previously had to be done manually is now automatic, maximizing effectiveness.
Thanks to this upgrade, complaints due to platform deficiencies and inconveniences have dropped to an average of only four percentage points.
Emprende Pro Mujer wraps up another great year, in which it transformed the lives of more than 40,000 women. 85% of the women who used the platform improved their softs skills, 86% improved their leadership, and 87% believe that their sales will improve thanks to the program.
An indispensable part of the results obtained has been the building of successful partnerships. With the support of Tik Tok, Google, UPS, Target Foundation, Microsoft, Mercado Pago, Fondo Mujer Emprende, Reservas del País, Fuerza Migrante, LSEG Foundation, We4CA, ANDE-GEDI, IOM, and more, Pro Mujer was able to make a difference for a greater number of users. In 2024, we will continue to work for women and their empowerment. Let’s go for more!
