Women entrepreneurs invited to apply for second WINC Acceleration Programme

BUILDING on the success of its 2016 Acceleration Programme, the Women Innovators Network in the Caribbean (WINC) is launching its 2017 programme.

The eight-month peer learning programme which begins in November 2017 is designed to help growth-oriented women entrepreneurs innovate within their businesses, and have the self-confidence to make the necessary changes to improve their competitiveness and boost their growth. Participants will benefit from a suite of services including business and personal development, one-to-one mentoring, technical workshops and motivational sessions. The initiative is part of the Entrepreneurship Programme for Innovation in the Caribbean (EPIC), funded by the government of Canada and implemented by the World Bank’s infoDev programme for innovation and entrepreneurship. It will be delivered by infoDev-trained and certified facilitators in nine countries — Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis, and Trinidad & Tobago.

InfoDev-certified facilitator A Cecile Watson, a senior business leader and entrepreneur, will lead WINC AP Jamaica for the second time around. “The returns, impact and value created by the WINC Acceleration Programme may never be totally grasped or measured. During 2016, we had 11 women entrepreneurs in the Jamaica programme who today are still learning, developing and growing together. We are now a community of women entrepreneurs who are still celebrating our successes, hacking through our challenges, sharing our networks, doing business together and always looking out for each other,” she said.

The Development Bank of Jamaica has signed on as a key sponsor of the Jamaica programme. Managing Director Milverton Reynolds said: “We’ve hosted and had robust discussions with the women entrepreneur graduates of the first WINCAP cohort and we’ve seen how energised they are by the value that the programme continues to create for them. Two of the awardees of the DBJ IGNITE grant in 2016 were amongst the participants. So we support and encourage endeavours like these which are directly aligned to our MSME strategy — a key contributor to Jamaica’s economic growth plans.”

Women entrepreneurs who have been running their businesses for at least two years will be considered for selection, provided that the businesses have demonstrated growth, and that they have realistic plans for substantial future growth. Each country-based programme will support up to 12 women entrepreneurs.

According to Sophia Muradyan, coordinator for EPIC, “The combination of peer learning, personal development and mentorship allows our women entrepreneurs to develop themselves as well as their businesses, which is essential for them to scale and so make an even greater contribution to the economic and social development of the region.”

In 2016, 108 women entrepreneurs graduated from the WINC Acceleration Programme from 12 countries in the Caribbean. Of these, 94 per cent stated that their businesses had become more focused; 48 per cent noted an increase in business total sales during the period; 77 per cent indicated that they had significantly improved their marketing methods since joining the programme; and 73 per cent indicated having significantly improved their internal processes and organisational structure and management practices.

Female entrepreneurs who are committed to growing and scaling their business may apply for the WINC 2017 Acceleration Programme at www.surveymonkey.com/r/WINC-AP2. The call for applications closes on July 31.

For questions and updates, visit: www.facebook.com/WomenInnovatorsNetworkCaribbean.