Latin America and the Caribbean is the region with the highest number of businesses started by women, with a rate of 21% (GEM). However, only 6% of investment fund capital is directed to companies led by women, according to data from the International Finance Corporation.
The Gender Scaling Financing Facility (GSFF), an initiative by LeFil Consulting implemented in partnership with Pro Mujer’s Gender Knowledge Lab with the financial support from the Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC)-, is a program designed to empower social enterprises in Latin America. It supports them in integrating gender into their strategies, operations, and daily practices through gender-focused initiatives.
For two years now, the program has supported more than 135 social enterprises and collected data from 146 initiatives in the region to integrate the gender perspective as a key element in their strategies and operations. The training process for social enterprises was divided into 3 phases:
- Phase 1: Gender perspective training and diagnosis
- Phase 2: Co-design of an action plan with investment for implementation
- Phase 3: Capital monitoring and growth
The impact of the program has been significant. Participating companies achieved an average 35% increase in revenue and a 68% increase in customer base. In addition, there were notable improvements in the proportion of women in leadership positions (18%) and a 14% reduction in staff turnover.
Among the most relevant findings of the program is that gender diversity in leadership teams significantly boosts business performance. Initiatives such as promoting equal hiring between men and women and establishing collaborations with suppliers that integrate a gender perspective have proven to be highly effective strategies for generating positive and sustainable results.
As part of the wrapping of the program, the webinar “Boosting Business Impact: “Gender Mainstreaming as a Key to Success,” which brought together participants, partner organizations, and field experts to share success stories, reflect on lessons learned and present the results of the GSFF.
Visión RB, one of the companies benefiting from the program, commented: “Developing gender initiatives in our companies definitely gave another perspective to our mission… Our processes improved and it was reflected in our sales.”
The GSFF results underline the transformative power of gender inclusion not only as a social commitment but as a strategy that improves business competitiveness and sustainability. The full report with all the details of the findings and the tools developed through GSFF will be available soon at www.lefilconsulting.com/gender.
