10,000 Women and more to follow

Thousands of women entrepreneurs in developing countries have started their own businesses, many with help from local banks and other non profit organisations that have issued them small loans and financial support.

Up until now there has been one flaw in the process: Most of the women have little formal education and lack the management skills and financial knowledge to take their business to the next level. On Mar. 5, 2008 investment bank Goldman Sachs announced it would change this by contributing $100 million into educational projects for these women over the next five years.

In an announcement at Columbia University in New York City, Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein said the company is hoping to create a new model of management education designed to help these women learn everything from how to write a business plan to market their own business.

The company will be teaming up with top business schools, including Wharton, Columbia, Harvard, and Cambridge University’s Judge Business School, to develop management education certificate programs at universities in countries such as Nigeria, Rwanda, and Afghanistan. The programs will be flexible and of short duration, ranging from several weeks to several months.

What is 10,000 Women^SM?

10,000 Women has six components:-

• 10,000 Women Over Five Years Will Receive a Business and Management Education: Over the next five years, Goldman Sachs will support partnerships with universities and development organizations that will lead to 10,000 women receiving a business and management education. The initial partnerships will fund business and management education certificates in countries around the world. These innovative certificate programs are pragmatic, flexible and shorter term and will help open doors for thousands of women whose financial and practical circumstances prevent them from ever receiving a traditional business education. These programs will provide women with the opportunity to develop specific skills, such as drafting a business plan, accounting, public speaking, marketing, management and accessing capital. There will also be a select number of MBA and BA scholarships funded.
• Build Quality and Capacity Through Global Business Sister School Partnerships: To strengthen the quality and capacity of business schools in developing nations, Goldman Sachs will support new partnerships between business schools and universities in the United States and Europe and business schools in developing and emerging economies. Through these partnerships, the schools will collaborate to train professors, exchange faculty, develop curriculum and create local case study material.
• Establish Mentoring and Post-Graduation Support for Women Entrepreneurs: In addition to funding tuition for business and management education, 10,000 Women will seek to establish mentoring and networking channels for women and to encourage career development opportunities that will extend the benefits of the program beyond the classroom, leveraging the overall impact of their educational experience.
• Work with Leading Research and Women’s Development Organizations: Many outstanding organizations are working on the ground to give girls, young women and potential entrepreneurs a sense of their future potential. 10,000 Women will work with these organizations to better understand the local challenges these girls and women must overcome so more of them can ultimately realize their potential through access to greater economic opportunity.
• Develop Partnerships in the United States to Help Disadvantaged Women: As part of 10,000 Women, Goldman Sachs will establish parallel programs and partnerships to provide more business and management education for disadvantaged women in the United States.
• Commit $100 Million in Addition to the Time and Dedication of Goldman Sachs People: Goldman Sachs will commit $100 million over the next five years to 10,000 Women. In addition, the people of Goldman Sachs will contribute their time and expertise through classroom instruction and mentoring

What are People Saying about 10 000 Women?

“Women’s entrepreneurial capital has gone untapped for far too long in the developing world. Building women’s human capital will have a multiplier effect: not just filling existing needs for scarce business skills, but creating new demands, new jobs, new wealth-and, let’s hope, a more people-friendly global economy.”
- Nancy Birdsall, President, Center for Global Development

“It is vitally important that women have opportunities to develop their financial leadership skills. This initiative will help catalyze and promote the role of women in financial services for the poor and empower them to be leaders of the future.”
- Dr. Helene Gayle, President and CEO, CARE USA

“We know that primary and secondary education for girls is crucial to their ability to shape the course of their lives. But for girls to succeed, the skills they gain in school must match the jobs available in today’s global marketplace. Yet That critical space – when girls transition from school to work – has been invisible to the financial and international development communities… alike and investments to ensure a smooth transition have been limited. More than survive, we want women to thrive.”
- Geeta Rao Gupta, President, International Center for Research on Women

“Around the world women leaders are increasingly driving economic, political and social progress. They are the catalysts of change of our time. We know from a growing body of research-from the World Bank to the World Economic Forum-that investments in women’s education and training pay significant dividends for society. Without women’s full participation, no country can prosper, but in order to tap their potential, women need the tools for effective leadership. There is no better investment for our world.”
- Melanne Verveer, Co-founder and Chair Vital Voices Global Partnership

“Reversing cycles of poverty can be an abstract conversation. With incentives of financial gain, families choose to keep their girls unmarried, healthy and in school. More girls grow up to become businesspeople, who create more opportunity for the girls that follow. Cycles of poverty are replaced by positive spirals of growth.”
- Maria Eitel, President, Nike Foundation

“The professional development of talent is a critical component of addressing global inequities. Providing women with access to education gives them entrepreneurial tools they need to build their own futures – which in turn creates a corps of leaders with the skill and will to effect broader change.”
- Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO, Acumen Fund

“Creating more female entrepreneurs in developing and emerging economies satisfies all the requirements of smart development: the benefits will multiply far beyond the investment; it is sustainable over the long run; it is adaptable to local needs; it is focused; it is measurable and it helps beneficiaries, communities and states alike.”
- Linda Rottenberg, Co-founder & CEO, Endeavor

“Education and training are the foundation of women’s empowerment. When women are equipped with solid business knowledge and skills, they can effectively compete in the job market or become successful entrepreneurs, and in turn, empower other women to gradually transform society.”
- Dr. Codou Diaw, Executive Director, Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE)

“We cannot talk about building sustainable economies, sustainable democracies and sustainable societies without having strong and empowered women. Strong women lead to strong nations. This makes investments in their education, economic opportunities and political participation vital elements to building a more peaceful and secure world.”
- Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO, Women for Women International

“While entrepreneurship is key at all levels of society, nowhere is it more important than for women and the dispossessed, who often do not have access to the traditional paths to progress and must carve out their own roads. By teaching the teachers to pass on the lessons of management, Harvard Business School will have the opportunity to contribute to the kind of practical education that can change people’s lives and help reshape societies.”
- Michael Chu, Senior Lecturer of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

~ by Steven Viviers on June 9, 2008.