Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator Incepted by Mary Kay Inc. Holds 4th Year-Anniversary Event at the United Nations Headquarters, NYC
On September 21st, 2023, in conjunction with the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, the Women’s Entrepreneurship Accelerator (WEA) organized a high-level event titled “Inclusive Capital: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs on a Global Scale” bringing together leaders to spotlight this critical issue for women entrepreneurs.
The event was organized in collaboration with WEA-participating UN agencies; UN Women, International Telecommunication Union, International Trade Centre, UN Global Compact, International Labour Organization, UN Development Programme; Mary Kay, Yildiz Holding, and Women Entrepreneurs Act initiative (WE Act) of the Women20 (G20/W20) countries.
In 2022, companies founded solely by women garnered just 2.1% of the total capital invested in venture-backed startups in the US. Globally, women entrepreneurs face a US $1.7 trillion finance gap limiting their potential to add an estimated US $5-6 trillion in economic value to the economy.
The event provided an opportunity for all stakeholders within the women’s entrepreneurship ecosystem to discuss women’s challenges to access finance, emphasize the importance of inclusive investing, and generate institutional and corporate commitments to better serve women businesses through applying a gender-inclusive lens to their decision-making.
Major stakeholders from the World Bank (WE-FI), OECD, ITU, UNDP, UNGC, G20/W20, women's business organizations, BPW (Business and Professional Women) and FCEM (Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises Mondiales), Global Invest Her, converged to explore innovative avenues of collaboration, propelling the cause of women's entrepreneurship to new horizons.
Moderated by Virginia Littlejohn, Global Coordinator of the Women Entrepreneurs Act initiative (WE Act) of the Women20 (G20/W20) countries, the event also welcome Faatiha Aayat, young activist as a guest speaker and Nina Tandon, Founder and CEO of EpiBone, as keynote.
In a resounding display of global solidarity and empowerment, the WEA event brought together 570 on-site attendees and hundreds virtually around the world.
The milestone event was followed by an invitation-only dinner held in the UN Delegates Dining Room supported by 1919 Investment Counsel where WEA was pitched to investors.
