Mentorship helps women entrepreneurs adapt quickly to succeed in a COVID‑19 era. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌



Where will you be a year from now? These days, that can be a hard question to answer. And as COVID‑19 unravels our future plans, it also reveals existing disparities. Women worldwide are losing their livelihoods faster than men, and women with small businesses are acutely affected.

But data shows that creating support networks and receiving mentorship improves their chances of success. Cera and Silmi are among thousands of women entrepreneurs who have benefited from Mercy Corps’ MicroMentor platform — connecting entrepreneurs to business mentors, including a new COVID‑19 Mentor Task Force.

Cera

Cera grew up in Kenya. She tells her story:

"I was raised by a single mother who could barely afford the school fees for my sister and I. We often missed weeks of school for paying late, but with the help of family and friends, she always found a way to scrape the money together. I never thought I would graduate high school, let alone graduate from UCLA. Back then, I made a promise to myself: if I graduated from college, I would use whatever resources I had to help other girls get an education in the same way I had received support from different people."

After graduating from UCLA, Cera returned to Kenya. She first heard about MicroMentor at a business women’s support group in Nairobi. One of the women shared that her first chicken business had survived specifically because of a mentor from India — a man whom she had never met. She forwarded Cera the link to MicroMentor.

After searching on the MicroMentor platform, Cera eventually connected with Eric, a mentor based in the US. He is helping her develop her business, Ecodunia, a line of leather wallets lined with reusable grocery bags and colorful African prints, which gives back a portion of profits to fund girls’ education. Cera says:

"Mentoring has been crucial for the growth of my business. It’s amazing to workshop ideas with an astute business person who is rooting for me."

Silmi, an agricultural entrepreneur from Indonesia, co-founded a digital platform called Etnogotani, which helps local farmers increase food production profitability. Facing challenges in building her platform and reaching her target market, Silmi joined MicroMentor, where she was connected with Satria, a mentor in Jakarta.

Silmi

In addition to increasing her confidence and skills, mentorship helped Silmi learn about financial management, and she has hired three employees.

There is no one simple solution to closing the opportunity gap for women entrepreneurs. But finding a circle of support is an important start.

Learn more about how and why COVID‑19 disproportionately affects women’s livelihoods — and how Mercy Corps is working to close the gaps in business and beyond.

Thank you for being part of our global community of supporters. The world needs more people like you who are curious about people beyond our borders. We hope you can take a moment today to say thanks to someone special who you know is rooting for you — and give a word of encouragement to let someone else know you’ve got their back.

Sincerely,

Karen
Karen Scriven
Mercy Corps Senior Director,
Gender Equality & Social Inclusion

Karen’s passion is to equip young people to become future leaders. She collaborates with global teams to tackle harmful norms that perpetuate inequality, and to gather evidence around what works to build resilience for individuals and communities.

P.S. If you have business expertise to share, or are an entrepreneur seeking support, volunteer or ask for help on MicroMentor!

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