A Brief History of Women's History
Did you know that, while Women's History Month was not formally established in the US until 1987, it has its roots in international labor movements in the early 1900's?
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"Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their
reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those
who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in
the world's estimation, and publicly and privately, in season and out,
avow their sympathy with despised and persecuted ideas and their
advocates, and bear the consequences."
- Susan B. Anthony, American women's suffragist leader
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E3nabling News
It is our goal, in this quarterly newsletter, to provide a concise digest of news, information and links to e1ducate, e2nlighten and e3mpower your work on behalf of nascent, new, established and growing women-owned enterprises around the world.
Our subscribers come from all walks of life - businesses large and small, NGOs, associations, the public sector and educational institutions - yet all share a common interest in supporting women's enterprise development in their communities and around the world. We hope you find this information of interest.
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E1ducate: News in Brief
While things may still be cool weather-wise (in the northern hemisphere anyway), things are heating up for women's enterprise. There is a new task force in the UK, new and impending research to share, and a reminder of International Women's Day coming up next month: - At long last, the members of the Women's Enterprise Task Force in the UK were announced and its inaugural meeting was held, both in early February. The task force has a 3-year mandate to increase the quality and quantity of women's enterprise across the UK, and will work closely with the government's Regional Development Agencies to do so. The task force is co-chaired by one of those RDA leaders, Pam Alexander; she is joined as co-chair by Aurora CEO Glenda Stone. Visit www.womensenterprise.co.uk for more information.
- Also from the UK, a new report on trends in women's entrepreneurship support, from PROWESS and the UK Global Entrepreneurship Monitor team, headed by Dr. Rebecca Harding.
- What will the face of business look like by 2017? Well, according to Intuit and the Institute for the Future's new report on The Future of Small Business, it will look increasingly female - as well as both older, younger, and more diverse in other ways. While perhaps stating the obvious, the report nonetheless provides further confirmation of the feminization of entrepreneurship.
- The 2006 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report was launched at an international symposium in London last month. One session of that symposium focused on women's enterprise, and the 3rd women-focused GEM report will be published next month at an event hosted by the Center for Women's Leadership at Babson College. Visit www.gemconsortium.org to download both reports and to learn more about the symposium.
- March is Women's History Month in the United States, and March 8 is International Women's Day all around the world. Thousands of events marking women's achievements in all walks of life will be held that day. Visit internationalwomensday.com to find out more. To read a brief history of Women's History Month, click here, and also visit the National Women's History Project web site.
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E2nlighten: Manna from Heaven
Angel Networks for and by Women
In our last issue, we focused on investing in women's
enterprise development through direct investments on a small scale. In this
issue's enlightenment section, we look up-market at angel investing.
According to recent information from the National Venture
Capital Association and the Center for Venture Research, the level of angel
investing is growing faster than venture capital (angel investments were up 15% in the first half of
2006 compared to the same period in 2005, while VC increased just 2% in 2006
compared to 2005), and is nearly equal to it in volume (angel capital
investments in 2005 totaled $23.1 billion compared to $28 billion for VC).
However, perhaps due to the more individual and patient nature of angel
investing, it does not receive the same level of attention as VC investments
do.
Last spring, the Kauffman Foundation released a very
interesting report focusing on angel capital networks for and by women, and later last year it
published a report looking at best practices in the U.S. regarding access to capital for women business owners,
a companion study to one done by the International Finance Corporation's Gender Entrepreneurship Markets initiative looking
at similar programs internationally.
In those best practice reports, three angel capital networks
were identified:
Angel networks for and by women are growing, yet they remain
largely unheralded to date. To find out more about these networks, visit their
web sites at the links above, and to learn more about angel capital investing in
general, please visit the links below:
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E3mpower: Blah, Blah, Blogs
Searching for the "Femmepreneur" Voice Online
There is increasing talk these days about blogs. While much can be said about their immediacy, their ability to connect quickly with a wide audience, and their informal flair, is anybody really reading most of these online diaries? And, where are women's entrepreneurship-focused blogs out there in cyberspace?
Womenable cast a net out into the blogosphere, and has pulled in a few femme-blogs of note. This list, of course, is not extensive, and may well be out of date by the time you read this - such is the nature of blogging. Nonetheless, we hope this helps you narrow your search for the "femmepreneur" voice online! - For a meta-list of women-focused blogs, visit blogher.org.
Of course, very few have anything to do with business or entrepreneurship. - Many business magazines have columnist blogs, but while they have interesting and relevant business news, there are few female voices. One of the most dynamic female voices in this realm is Karen Klein of Business Week.
- There is a cornucopia of info on the latest business books, including some interesting podcasts if you have time to dig, at 800ceoread.com/blog. There are many women authors as well.
- The Center for Women's Leadership at Babson College has a women's entrepreneurship-focused blog.
- The Women President's Organization has a link to its blog on blogspot.com.
- Count Me In's "Make Mine a $Million Business" program contains some interesting and inspiring blogs from their program participants.
- NAWBO member Kirsten Osolind (chair of that organization's Public Policy Forum) has a lively WBO-focused blog at re:inventioninc.blogspot.com.
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We encourage your feedback and comments, as well as your help in spreading the news. Feel free to click below to forward this e-mail to others you feel would be interested in any or all of the articles above.
Sincerely,
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