We are excited to introduce you to our newest member, the French-based non-profit organisation Empow’Her. The decision to join our network came swiftly after their project Women Act expanded to a broader European level.
With Empow’her now on board, we are looking forward to learning from their expertise and support them in their contributions to the development of opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
Helping us learn more about this impact-driven organisation were the Head of Programs for France and Europe Joséphine Py, and Camille Prudhomme who works as a Project Officer of European Projects. They shed light on the missions, projects and the future of Empow’her in their quest to empower business women everywhere.
History of Empow’Her
The organisation was founded in 2013 by Soazig Barthélemy, who is still the director of the organisation to this day. In 2013, Soazig was a 22-year-old student working in the investment banking sector. Due to her passion for gender-equality and entrepreneurship, together with her friends she decided to travel the world to meet women entrepreneurs and learn about their businesses. This experience showcased the incredible potential of female entrepreneurs, but also the challenges they have to face every day. They had a vision to remove these obstacles and to provide women with the tools and resources they need to become drivers of their own development. And so, Empow’Her was born!
“Women are changemakers are they need to be included in part of the solution.”
A big turn came in 2015, when Soazig decided to dedicate all her time and energy to the organisation. She transformed a student project into a professional non-profit organisation that has since supported over 6,000 women in 11 countries. Currently, the team of 30 people is spread across three countries – France, Niger and Ivory Coast – working tirelessly to fulfil their mission.
Mission and Activities
During our interview, it became clear that both Joséphine and Camille have real passion for what they do. They believe in their organisation’s mission to support women entrepreneurs and help them succeed in their entrepreneurial journey. Joséphine explained that their global scope permits them to support every women entrepreneur. The focus on social entrepreneurship is concentrated in France and across Europe because there is a need for such support. Empow’Her is in a unique position to fill this gap as they are an active part of the social enterprise ecosystem in Europe, contributing with unique skill-sets and a strong grasp on this topic. Joséphine also pointed to the dynamic nature and the potential of the sector for development of women entrepreneur.
Empow’Her believes in equality of opportunities, equality of education, equality of resources and is determined to promote impact-driven businesses in order to ensure that women have all the tools and opportunities necessary to assume their roles as drivers of positive impact.
To achieve their mission, Empow’Her runs a variety of support programs, currently focusing on three active programs – Women Growth, Women Rise and Women Act. Camille and Joséphine spoke highly about the importance and value of the programme. “Women Act is designed specifically for women in social entrepreneurship. This is a more selective program as the participants are high-potential women entrepreneurs who have just launched their project.” Participants need to have a dual bottom-line meaning that beside financial profit, they have to strive to create positive social or environmental impact. The program is active in France, Niger and Ivory Coast, both on national and regional levels.
Joséphine mentioned multiple times how imperative exchange of knowledge and peer-to-peer learning is. Empow’Her organises actions promoting these activities for anybody who is interested. Experts, professional and aspiring entrepreneurs as well as ambassadors can join Empow’Her communities and get access to trainings, events, aspiring talks and bootcamps to launch projects.
The Future of Empow’Her
Empow’Her has high ambitions! Camille says her vision for the organisation is to become the main resource supporting women entrepreneurs.
“In 5 years, I imagine Empow’Her becoming the reference in the field of female social entrepreneurship in France and Europe through the WomenAct program.”
Photos courtesy of Empow’Her
Projects are expected to expand to more countries and help women establish their place in the regional entrepreneurial ecosystems. The most important, however, the team of Empow’Her wants to continue having real positive impact on women’s lives.
Joséphine says that they want to become a resource for other organisation supporting women entrepreneurs and strengthen the global network. The organisation is already of the right track to achieving that goal.
Empow’Her is Now Part of Euclid Network
We are very proud to have Empow’Her on board. It is a fast-growing organisation, recently widening its reach across the Europe. Since 2016, Empow’Her has been running a program to support social entrepreneurs in France. Last year, Joséphine conducted a study to understand the position and challenges of female social entrepreneurs in Europe. In 2020, they launched the first edition of the European program. Because of this expansion, Empow’Her decided to join Euclid Network. As part of the family, we will be providing them with resources and opportunities to connect with organisations that can complement their mission. In turn, other members of our network can benefit from their perspective and expertise about the sector.
“We love to work in collaboration with other actors and have an open exchange of information. It was also needed for our development and ensuring the success of our projects.”
Want to join Euclid Network?
If you would like to find out more about how you can become a member of the Euclid Network please contact the team!
