In commemoration of International Women month, Global Entrepreneurship Network - Ghana (GEN - Ghana) with support from the British Council, Ghana, will host the maiden Ghana Women in Social Enterprise Month throughout the month of March 2019 under the theme "Fostering Women Economic Inclusion through Social Enterprise"

Ghana Women in Social Enterprise (GWISE) Month aims to promote women in social enterprise to generate social good through sustainable business opportunities, while fostering economic inclusion for women. We aim to host a series of events in the month of March 2019 to put a spotlight on Women in Social Enterprise, while commemorating the International Women’s Month of celebrations.

The project seeks to :

Expose opportunities and inspire women in social enterprise to realize their potential to start and grow their own social businesses.

Equip existing and aspiring female social entrepreneurs with practical tools, insights, experts, and resources to accelerate their successes.

Connect female entrepreneurs with a broad community, and thriving, diverse and relevant networks.

Engage and provide a platform for the social enterprise ecosystem—examining research, public policies and successful approaches towards promoting women social entrepreneurship in Ghana.

Slated signature events for Ghana Women In Social Entreprise (GWISE) Month:

Policy forum on Women’s Economic Empowerment through Social Enterprise This policy forum will bring together stakeholders in academia, policy makers, female social entrepreneurs, development partners, and the private sector for a conversation on the current constraints faced by female social entrepreneurs across Ghana specifically focusing on accessing finance, training, accessing markets etc. The event will feature keynote addresses, panel discussions, exhibitions by female-run enterprises. In partnership with the British Council, this event will launch the British Council’s latest research report “Activist to Entrepreneur: The role of social enterprise in supporting women’s empowerment in Ghana” to discuss its key findings.

Date: 14 March 2019

Venue: British Council, Accra Ghana

Accessing Funding Master class for Women in Social Enterprise

The workshop will educate and equip women in social enterprise and women-led non-profits with the knowledge and skills for accessing various sources of finance for growth. This training workshop will also introduce participants to to an upcoming Funding Space accelerator program in Ghana, which will enable them shape their social business to become investment ready. Participants will also have access to a wide range of finance options and connections to impact investors and philanthropy funds. The event will take place in Accra and Kumasi

Date: 22 March 2019

Venue: Impact Hub Accra and Happa Space (Kumasi)

Women in Social Enterprise “Connect Night”

In commemoration of the International Women’s day celebrations, we will host a Women in Social Enterprise “Connect Night”. This event will bring together women in social enterprise to network, share ideas and connect. The reception will feature speed networking sessions and key spotlight presentations by female-led social entrepreneurs.

Date: 15th March 2019 Venue: The Hatchery East Legon

Media engagement series on Women in Social Enterprise

A series of media engagements will be implemented to drive up the profile and impact of women in social enterprise in Ghana. The series will involve profiling of some leading female social entrepreneurs in Ghana on various media platforms such as radio, TV interviews and online channels to put a spotlight on women in social enterprise in Ghana . As part of the media engagement, we will film and produce a video on impactful women in social enterprise to share their stories on what got them to start a social business, how they got their first capital and the impact they are making. The video will be shared on various digital platforms and women rights groups.

Women in Social Enterprise Town Hall :

These events will bring together existing female social entrepreneurs from various industries in a Town Hall meeting format to inspire, educate and mentor young and aspiring female entrepreneurs on the art of starting and growing a social enterprise as a woman, by sharing their entrepreneurial journeys and experiences on how they started, the mistakes they made, challenges they faced and how they dealt with those challenges in starting and growing their businesses. Each session will be climaxed with Q and A sessions to give participants the opportunity to interact with entrepreneurs. The Town Hall events will take place in Accra and Kumasi.

Date: 21 March 2019

Venue: University of Ghana Business School,

Online Conversations on Women in Social Enterprise Series We will host a series of online conversations on women in social entrepreneurship :

Accessing Training Opportunities for Women in Social Enterprise Twitter Chat

Date : 12th March 2019

Venue: online Twitter @thegenghana

Ghana & UK Women in Social Enterprise Twitter Chat (#GhanaUKWISEChat ) : This chat will focus on sharing experiences and best practices in social enterprise; successes and failures, differences and similarities from various cultures in Ghana and in the UK. The conversation will focus on areas like accessing finance, governance, legal structures etc.

Date: 19 March 2019

Venue: Online Twitter: @thegenghana