Celebrating The Amazing Women In Our Network — IWD 2020
The theme for International Women’s Day, #EachForEqual, seeks to address gender equality as a global issue — with the central message focused on realizing women’s rights and creating an equal world for all genders.
According to reports, in 2019, women-led startups received only 3% of venture capital investments globally. While it is estimated that in Nigeria 40% of women are entrepreneurs, these numbers mainly represent micro-sized businesses, often built out of necessity. For female entrepreneurs building large companies, they still face barriers to accessing capital; while women remain underrepresented in leadership positions in organisations and on board seats.
At Endeavor, our ultimate goal is to create a more prosperous and equitable world for everyone. Endeavor is leading the high-impact entrepreneurship movement with the aim of driving economic growth and building strong entrepreneurship ecosystems in growth markets such as Nigeria. We select, mentor and support the best high-impact entrepreneurs in our ecosystem because we see entrepreneurship a powerful catalyst for transforming communities and economies.
This year we wanted to highlight some of the women in our network. We posed a simple question, “Why is it smart to invest in women?”. Here are some of their insights below.
We also sat down with some of the amazing women in leadership positions at companies led by Endeavor Entrepreneurs. These women are helping Endeavor Entrepreneurs scale their fast-growing companies. They talk about paying-it-forward, being a female leader, and the experience of working for an Endeavor Entrepreneur-led company.
Despite the progress that has been achieved over the years, real change has been elusive for women and girls around the world, and we have a long way to go towards creating a fair playing field for girls and women. Closing the gender gap requires active participation from organisations, investors, and individuals. By supporting and investing in more women, together we can move towards a more prosperous world.
Thank you to all the trailblazing women who participated in this campaign. Happy International Women’s Day!
