U.S. Consulate Empowers 25 Northeast Women Entrepreneurs, Initiative To Support Business Potentialities

13th November 2021

Posted in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Featured, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Northeast

NET Web Desk

Marking the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), an event celebrated to strengthen the entrepreneurial community, the U.S. Consulate Kolkata has organized a two-day boot camp, stressing on business potentialities of 25 selected women entrepreneurs hailing from Northeast India at the American Center in Kolkata from November 12-13.

Held in partnership with the Shillong-based Non-Profit Organization (NGO) Asian Confluence, the event is an initiative undertaken by the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) which is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs (ECA).

Empowering more than 5000 women entrepreneurs across 50 countries globally, the association has been supporting the communities through mentorship & various scaling opportunities despite pandemic challenges.

“The United States believes strongly in women’s empowerment through entrepreneurship, and stands firmly for women’s equality, and inclusion in all public endeavors. These are challenging times indeed, but an opportunity for us to show the strength and depth of our bilateral relationship. I am proud of the way we at Consulate Kolkata have continued to adapt our programs to support entrepreneurs in our region. Keeping in mind that women in particular face increased challenges during these times, we have stepped up our efforts to support and mentor women entrepreneurs.” – asserted Consul General Melinda Pavek while addressing the gathering.

The U.S Consulate General Kolkata-led AWE program marks the first-of-its-kind in India, which has supported 150 early-stage entrepreneurs and business owners from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Nagaland through a structured online education from the University of Arizona’s Dreambuilder course.

It included guided facilitation from alumni and business leaders, as well as technical sessions with the Nexus Incubation Hub at the American Center in New Delhi.

Developed by Freeport-McMoRan in partnership with Thunderbird School of Global Management, Arizona State University, the Dreambuilder online course so far have provided certification to 80 women entrepreneurs across the globe.

Although the programme was organized through a virtual mode, but three in-person workshops were held in Dimapur, Shillong, and Imphal with strict adherence to COVID-19 Appropriate Behaviour.

According to a press release released by the U.S. Consulate, these 25 top entrepreneurs from Northeast India will now participate in a shark-tank styled business pitch session which will be evaluated by a jury panel.

Top performers will be awarded with seed funding and/or entry slots as part of the January 2022 cohort of the Nexus incubation program at the American Center in New Delhi.