Ela Pode (She Can)

ELA PODE aims to support women to achieve economic empowerment through entrepreneurship. Several researches demonstrates that women face more difficulties to run their businesses in whole world due to gender roles present in society. Brazil is one of the countries with higher proportion of women entrepreneurs, they are more educated than their male counterparts and they are increasingly head of household; but their businesses are smaller and they are more likely to fail. Therefore, ELA PODE not only address the technical knowledge necessary to start and run a business, but also address gender issues that constrain women to start and run their businesses; it focus on women’s most challenging themes related to entrepreneurship, such as finance, negotiation and sales; it approaches gender related themes such as female leadership; it brings reference of other women’s entrepreneurship and it stimulates women to build a network.

According to Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, Brazil is one of the countries with higher proportion of women entrepreneurs, 17.3% of the female adult working-age population, and 44% of them started their business out of necessity, compared to 32% of men. Besides that, women entrepreneurs are becoming more and more head of household: according to SEBRAE (national entity responsible for fostering entrepreneurship in Brazil), it increased from 38% in 2015 to 45% in 2018. Women entrepreneurs account for  10.2% of global female adult working-age population, and it increases to 15% in low income countries; and 27% of them started their business out of necessity, which increases to 37% in low income countries. Thus, women’s entrepreneurship is an essential activity for underprivileged women, especially because many times it is the only option available to earn some income. However, those women usually do not have information, knowledge or references to start and run their business, and as a result they earn less from their businesses than men (22% less) and they face a higher discontinuance rate (40% higher).

The methodology is based on train-the-trainers method, in which voluntary women are prepared to facilitate and organize the trainings in their cities, in partnership with local organizations such as NGOs and government agencies. The trainers are entrepreneurs, representatives of organizations of civil society, teachers; they are from countryside and capital; and they use partners structure to ensure a content suitable to the public, with scalability at low cost. The training include two tracks: soft skills (leadership and communication to job interviews and customer support; networking; negotiation and sales techniques; self presentation); and hard skills (digital tools to execute a business marketing; finances), and it is offered in different lengths: 16, 8 and 4 hours. During the pandemic, the course has been adapted to several 1-hour online webinars. After the training, participants get access to e-learning content to continue their development.

ELA PODE is focused on underprivileged women in Brazil that desire to start a business, improve their business or get a job: 65% are from North and Northeast regions, the most vulnerable regions in Brazil; 74% of them are low and middle income; 64% are black and 40% do not work. ELA PODE aims to address their needs through training, inspirational content and networking, and reaching communities in which those initiatives do not reach to. In order to understand if the initiative is addressing the target population needs, participants answer a satisfaction survey and an impact assessment survey.

Women’s entrepreneurship is an essential activity for underprivileged women, and this phenomena is likely to increase, due to changes in labour market. Women entrepreneurs usually do not have knowledge to start and run their business, and as a result they earn less from their businesses than men (22% less) and they face a higher discontinuance rate (40% higher). This way, ELA PODE aims to support women to achieve economic empowerment through entrepreneurship, not only addressing technical knowledge necessary to start and run a business, but also addressing gender issues that constrain women to start and run their businesses.