Author: Digital Leader

WomenTech Network announces Women in Tech Global Awards 2022 Finalists celebrating 100 000 women, minorities, and allies in tech. 

Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck, DLI Director, has been recognized as a Women in Tech Global Awards 2022 finalist by WomenTech Network, the world’s largest community for women in tech with more than 6000 ambassadors from 172 countries.

1247 Contestants from 142 Countries in 16 Categories

Cheryl Miller Van Dÿck, DLI Director, was named a finalist in the category Special Recognition: Women in ICT Award for her groundbreaking global work promoting digital equity and greater participation of girls and women in digital fields.

About her nomination, Cheryl says “doing good is its own reward, but it is a true privilege to bring recognition to our incredible DLI team, and to be showcased among such leaders in promoting digital equity and women in technology. Thank you WomenTech Network for this honor!”

“We understand the value of recognizing small and major victories. This is why we shine a light on accomplished and aspiring women-in-tech leaders, who are working toward a more equitable and inclusive world,” says Anna Radulovski, CEO and Founder at WomenTech Network.

The Women in Tech Global Awards 2022 and Inspire Summit

The Women in Tech Global Awards 2022 and Inspire Summit is an annual celebration following the WomenTech Network global Women in Tech Conference, the world’s largest virtual conference for women in technology. It includes:

• An entire day full of insightful talks and networking opportunities. 
• Q&A with 20 keynote speakers from Intel, Airbnb, Meta, IBM, and more.

The virtual ceremony and summit will feature some of the most accomplished women in tech. The event will also offer 1:1 networking opportunities with finalists, winners and speakers. 

About the Digital Leadership Institute

The Digital Leadership Institute is a Brussels-based, international NGO and a  recognised world leader in promoting greater participation of girls and women in strategic, innovative ESTEAM (Entrepreneurship & Arts powered by STEM) sectors, through four areas of activity:

1. Education and Skills Development: Providing young and career-age women leadership, business, personal- and professional-development and ESTEAM skills through direct access to experts and tools that encourage them toward entrepreneurship and leadership in ESTEAM studies and careers.
2. Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support:  Cultivating an environment for generating the seeds of future enterprise in cutting edge ESTEAM fields for girls and women. Delivering digital, business and leadership expertise, tools, and access for girls and women to bring new discoveries and business seeds to market.
3. Advocacy and Awareness Building: Promoting grassroots initiatives to create interest in and to provide skills to girls and women in ESTEAM, coupled with top-down advocacy to create conditions for increasing their participation and to foster female entrepreneurship and leadership in ESTEAM sectors.
4. Research and Consultancy:  Increasing knowledge, fostering better understanding of the challenges, and promoting and implementing solutions to address the under-representation of girls and women in ESTEAM sectors and leadership.  Engaging in research actions and consulting services for individuals and organisations looking to benefit from our  knowledge and expertise.

About Cheryl

Cheryl Miller is a recognized leader in grassroots action and global advocacy to close the digital gender divide and promote women’s economic empowerment. In 2014, she founded the Brussels-based Digital Leadership Institute which has earned worldwide renown with a wide range of high-impact programs with an ESTEAM (Entrepreneurship and Art, powered by STEM) focus, and recognized by the UN in 2019 for its global leadership in inclusive digital transformation. In 2018, Google and the Financial Times placed Cheryl among the 100 Digital Pioneers of Europe for her work spearheading innovative skills programs, advocating for digital equity and women’s rights, and advising the European Commission on issues like technology, ethics, and diversity, equity and inclusion. Cheryl is a sought-after international speaker and thought leader regularly presenting at top global events on topics including inclusive digital transformation, digital equity and women’s entrepreneurship.  

About WomenTech Network

WomenTech Network is the world’s leading community for women in tech with more than 6,000 Global Ambassadors representing 172 countries. 70,000 tech leaders have collaborated with the network to date in order to cultivate a diverse global network that reaches 3.5 million people. WomenTech Network strives to empower women in tech through leadership development, professional growth, and mentorship programs. WomenTech Network hosts regular career networking events and a global tech conference for members to connect with like-minded professionals and learn about job opportunities at leading companies that value diversity.

Learn more about WomenTech Networks’ events and programs at www.womentech.net.

While entrepreneurship represents a viable alternative of decent and sustainable employment for women migrants of diverse cultural backgrounds – a powerful way towards empowerment, self-realization, income creation and improvement of their social status – the potential contribution that entrepreneurship can bring to their lives and the economy of the host country is often hindered by a series of challenges ranging from traditional barriers to business creation – difficulties in accessing credit, overwhelming bureaucracy, and lack of familiarity with the (business) environment – to some more complex ones embedded in our social structures: cultural differences and stereotypes, gender biases and social norms social that pose unique barriers to business growth and profitability for female-run enterprises.

To support these entrepreneurs – and aspiring entrepreneurs – to navigate the challenges of starting or growing a business, Digital Leadership Institute organized between 17 and 19th of June 2022 the Athena Entrepreneurship Bootcamp, a free 3-day entrepreneurship program dedicated to third-national migrant of diverse backgrounds. The Bootcamp was structured in three interconnected modules that were also suitable to be followed independently according to each participant’s interest and need. The aim was to offer a comprehensive understanding of the business ecosystem in Belgium and to develop a community with a wide range of experience and expertise to support the participating entrepreneurs long-term.

The boothcamp was structured around three main topics:
Day 1- Administrative & Financial Skills: learning about the cultural diversity and business environment in Belgium, administrative and legal requirements when starting an entrepreneurial activity, and – very importantly – funding opportunities for female entrepreneurs launching or growing their businesses;

Day 2- Business Skills: a hands-on business training session where participants discussed about vision and mission, identifying limiting beliefs, and worked on designing theirs businesses using the Lean methodology.

Day 3- Digital Skills: participants learned what are the digital tools they can use to launch and manage their online businesses; how open a webshop and how to use digital marketing to optimize their online presence.

The materials* used during the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp can be found below:

Administrative and Financial Skills materials:

• Cultural diversity in the business environment in BE and self-assessment, facilitated by Wendy Agyin, SheDIDIt

• Becoming a freelancer in Belgium, tips to optimize your taxes and a presentation of Accountable, an app that allows you to manage your accountancy on your own, facilitated by Heleen Willemsen, Accountable
• How to fund your start-up?, facilitated by Jasper Verreydt and Tanika Kenens (Funding landscape instrument Wallonia, Flanders, Brussels)

Business Skills materials:

• Business Shift Workbook, facilitated by Asanda Madikane, Shift Pivot
  

Digital skills materials:

• How to make an e-commerce website, facilitated by Liliana Carillo, CollectiveUP
• Digital marketing & Branding, facilitated by Jessica van Dop DeJesus, Dining Traveller

*The copyright of the materials belong to heir respective authors. No part of these materials may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without the prior consent of the copyright holders, except in the case of brief quotations embodied permitted by copyright law.

Other Resources:

• Free advice & support for entrepreneurs based in the Brussels Region: 1819 https://1819.brussels/en
• Assessment on what to consider before starting a business?
• 1819 Guide on Starting a Business and Formalities
• 1819 Guide on Growing Your Business
• 1819 Guide on Company Financing
• 1819 Guide on Subsidies for Entrepreneurs
• More Useful links for entrepreneurs in Belgium

The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Women of Diverse Cultural Backgrounds was organized as part of the Athena project – Approaches To valorise the High ENtrepreneuriAl potential of migrant women to contribute to their social and economic integration – a two-year project funded by the AMIF Program. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the economic and social integration of migrant women in the EU society by improving the services of entrepreneurship support oriented to migrant women and creating a specific entrepreneurial path for them.

The project is implemented by a consortium of six partners and covers five European countries , and will directly benefit a 210 migrant women, it will increase the capacities of more than 35 professionals working in entrepreneurship support roles, it will create synergies with several organisations and it will finally intend to influence policies through a series of policy recommendations. Here you can find more about the project: https://athenaproject.net/

Part of the ATHENA initiative – Approaches To valorise the High ENtrepreneuriAl potential of migrant women to contribute to their social and economic integration* – Digital Leadership Institute organized on 24th of April 2022 a Lunch & Learn session , followed by a Peer-learning training for professionals and business support organizations working with migrant women to discuss about how to act and support the shift towards a cultural and entrepreneurial ecosystem that embraces the diversity and added value that migrant women entrepreneurs bring to the market, and, overall, to their host communities.

The session was addressed to professionals providing business support services to migrant or migrant-background women entrepreneurs or who aspire to be entrepreneurs in Belgium, both within public or private entities, as well as freelance or working in the non-profit organizations with the aim of building their capacities to deliver the services of entrepreneurial support by sharing knowledge and experiences on a variety of topics that cover both administrative and business practices for third-country nationals, but also social and cultural aspects.

The event began with the discussion of the importance of cultural diversity and the entrepreneurial business ecosystem in Belgium, this part brought forward two successful migrant women entrepreneurs to share their stories. The first speaker, Sana Afouaiz, the CEO and founder of the Womenpreneur and with Moroccan background , shared the story of starting her non-profit organization, with the mission of advancing women’s place on the entrepreneurial scene, technology, innovation & society in Belgium and in the MENA region.

Speaking about her own struggles to start a business in the fashion industry, Anna Boroshok, co-founder of Silk and Cotton Global, highlighted the importance of having a support network of other women entrepreneurs when you are coming from a diverse cultural background that can resonate and support with the challenges you face – be it administrative or cultural – as they might have experienced them as well. For this reason, Anna founded the Fearless Female Founders community for women entrepreneurs, based in Brussels.

Following this discussion, the peer-learning training for professionals and business support organizations working with migrant women aimed at going more in depth into the opportunities for these professionals to improve their skills and services offered to this specific target group.

The first aspect discussed with the participants was regarding the Cultural diversity and the entrepreneurial business ecosystem in Belgium, facilitated by Lien Warmenbol from #SheDIDIt, regarding the importance of being aware of the cultural differences that women from diverse background might experience .

Shifting perspective, trainer Sana Afouaiz facilitated a conversation on the psychological preparedness of migrant women to uptake entrepreneurship. In these discussion, certain aspects were identified as problematic for this target group, such as of marginalization, assimilation, and separation, but provided specific tips that professionals can use to support integration and enable multi-cultural needs: through active listening, creating a safe space in order for the person to feel welcomed, unleashing talents, providing targeted training, ensuring mental support and be able to defend the rights of these migrant women entrepreneurs.

Linking the previous two topics, Katja Legisa from the Digital Leadership Institute lead the discussion on understanding stereotypes and their impact on women entrepreneurs, emphasizing how important it is for professionals working in supporting roles to know how to identify and tackle the issues involving stereotypes and to be conscious of their own and shared biases.

Finally, considering the fact that access to finance is considered to be one of the most important challenges for women entrepreneurs in general, coach Jasper Verreydt gave an overview of diverse funding opportunities women can access depending on the development stage of their businesses, including: bootstrapping, crowdfunding and crowdlending, but also grant offered by the different regions of Belgium to SMEs.

Overall, the discussions among the participating professionals pointed to the fact that there is the need for a better cooperation between the different service providers and existing organizations that work specifically with this target group, and that indeed the cultural – and, many times, the psychological – awareness represent extremely important factors that should be part of the continuous development and growth of organizations when dealing with migrant women.

The Lunch & Learn session and the peer-learning training for for professionals and business support organizations working with migrant women was organized as part of the Athena project – Approaches To valorise the High ENtrepreneuriAl potential of migrant women to contribute to their social and economic integration – a two-year project funded by the AMIF Program. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the economic and social integration of migrant women in the EU society by improving the services of entrepreneurship support oriented to migrant women and creating a specific entrepreneurial path for them.

The project is implemented by a consortium of six partners and covers five European countries , and will directly benefit a 210 migrant women, it will increase the capacities of more than 35 professionals working in entrepreneurship support roles, it will create synergies with several organisations and it will finally intend to influence policies through a series of policy recommendations. Here you can find more about the project: https://athenaproject.net/