My guest today on Be Your Change podcast is Wingee Sampaio. She is the global director of the Cartier Women's Initiative. In February, they organized a breakfast in Boston to discuss how to design an ecosystem that empowers women as a force for good. The event brought together a panel of powerful women and attendees who are changing the funding narrative for women. Wingee Sampaio's role is to coach women social entrepreneurs in the early stages of their business to make sure they are driving social change and reaching their full potential. Cartier is one of the most successful luxury brands in the world, but it also happens to be one of the pioneers in supporting women's social entrepreneurs. Cartier Women's Initiatives is an international entrepreneurship program. It focuses on driving change in the world by empowering women social entrepreneurs. Listen to the episode

Wingee Sampaio, Head of Cartier Women’s Initiative

"A lot of accelerators are mainly focused on the business, accelerating a business idea. And for us, we're just trying to support women who are creating social change via leveraging business as a force for good."

In this episode, we are discussing: 

• How Unique Is Cartier's Women Initiative's Program To Help Women Social Entrepreneurs? The Cartier Women Initiative is an international program with four main key pillars to support women's social entrepreneurs.
• The International Program's Four Pillars
• What makes Cartier Women Initiative different than an accelerator?

"I would call us more of an international program. And the reason why is how a lot of accelerators are mainly focused on the business, accelerating a business idea. And for us, we're just trying to support women social entrepreneurs who are creating social change via leveraging business as a force for good."

• How Is Cartier Looking Into Changing The Culture?

The United Nations created 17 sustainable goals to achieve by the year 2030, and goal number five is achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls with disabilities.

• How To Design An Ecosystem To Empower Women Social Entrepreneurs In Creating Social Change?
• How Can We Bring Men Into The Discussion?
• How Do You Support Women's Social Entrepreneurs With Mental Health?

I loved that you’ve pointed out the assumption of heroism in the male framework of entrepreneurialism. Earlier in my career, at least a century ago, that was the only model. If you wanted to figure out how to do it, you had to do as a hero. That was a solo journey, you go up, you climb the mountain. That’s really hard to begin with. Emily Green, All Raise

• Why Women Are More Inclined Or Interested In Making The World A Better Place?

Women social entrepreneurs want to make a difference. They go into their ventures with the intention to do more than just fill the bottom line. At Babson College, we’re educating the next generation of founders to think of economic and social impact simultaneously, so that any business you build already build in this ability to go beyond profits and think about planet, people and everything. So it’s really the way the founders of the future will approach business, we can hope. Susan Duffy Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership

Key Takeaways

Stop Trying To Fix Women

A lot of what we are experiencing today in the world, from the COVID-19; to climate change is a result of an old paradigm of entrepreneurship that has created unprecedented inequality. We have the rare opportunity to not go back to business as usual and design a new society that is led by women inclusive of everyone.

Please stop trying to fix women, please stop trying to telling us to be more bullish about our projections, defending more our business against critics, I’m sorry but the best way to grow is to hear the critics and discard what is shit and input what’s good. So we have to fix the system. I think it’s time for investors to make smarter business decisions Hala Hanna, managing director MIT SOLVE

Hala Hanna took part in the panel organized by Cartier Women's Initiative. She credited Michelle King for the phrase stop trying to fix women.

Women Are Figuring Out

Despite the fact, women don't have much access to capital; they are figuring out.

Women are figuring it out. They are saying that, OK, if that slice of funding isn’t for me, I’m gonna find other ways to go. And from SheEO to Pipeline Angels to Golden Seeds to Victorius capital to Portfolia to whatever it might be across the continuum of funding opportunities, women are finding their way and they are also growing organically, very strategically, very smart, and they are using all the resources they can. Susan Duffy, executive director of CWEL

Go Deeper

• Mit Solve Global
• All Raise
• Babson College
• Cartier Women's initiative website
• Resources for Women Social Entrepreneurs
• Read The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers That Are Holding Women Back at Work