The Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Americas (WEAmericas) is a program designed to support economic development around the world and increase female economic participation by helping women overcome barriers to starting and growing businesses.
Exchanges and partnerships are an essential part of any entrepreneurial journey. In the WEAmericas exchange through the International Visitor Leadership Program, women entrepreneurs are able to learn, gain new skills, find mentors and more.
“In the WEAmericas program, we have learned quite a lot. We’ve gotten to know the experiences of other women, and also tools that can help women in these small and medium-sized enterprises to draw out their business plans, create their market strategies and start their marketing; among other tools that they have given us; and that I’m sure they will continue giving to us. So the simple access to that is a great step for us,” says Marisol Del Carmen Brooks Zelaya, a WEAmericas gradauate from Nicaragua.
WeAmericas, state department helps women from across the Americas network and access opportunities.
“Essentially, women need training and access to credit, and women as a gender need to be taken into consideration as a productive segment of the market, says Maria De Los Angeles Torres Suarez, an alumna from Uruguay. “We need to strengthen their access to markets. Information generates opportunities, and training allows them to manage and develop their entrepreneurship in a way that’s viable and successful.”
Maria De Los Angeles Torres Suarez, a particpant and graduate from Uruguay, agarees. “I’m going to try to share this with other women, so that other women can also participate in this program, and therefore, we can have a multiplier effect,” she says. “We can obtain better results and achieve more sustainable development.”
For more about how WEAmerica supports opportunities for women in Latin America through education and skills development programs, visit the WEAmericas Initiative.
