AWE - Strengthening Women Entrepreneurship in North East India

Context: 

Overall India has low participation and empowerment of women both in domestic and economic/market spaces, though things have been improving over time. The North Eastern Region of India however, has historically had a slightly different scenario with a substantially larger section of the tribal society being matrilineal or at least where women have greater role and say in the society as per traditional norms.  This has also spilled on to the economic and business spaces with larger participation by women in these spaces. The region is surrounded by five international borders and is rich in natural and cultural resources. While such a backdrop presents a wonderful opportunity to capitalise on the natural advantage with high participation by women, geographical isolation, linguistic and ethnic tensions, and long-standing repercussions of armed conflicts has meant that the Northeast is often underrepresented in India’s start-up landscape. Given this, many women from the region have embarked on their entrepreneurial journeys in smaller scale industries, mostly based out of their homes, without any formal training or business framework.

This project, titled "Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE)-Strengthening Women Entrepreneurship in North East India" and supported by the U.S. Department of State, aims to enhance and strengthen women entrepreneurship in the North East states of India by connecting and training identified women entrepreneurs and building a network of committed partners. Specific objectives include training emerging women entrepreneurs across five states of northeast India on business ideas, planning and communication skills, fostering networks that will provide an access to peer-to-peer mentorship, business partners, and scaling opportunities with businesses in the region and in the United States, and providing specific hand-holding support, exposure and seed funding for pitching business ideas by selected women entrepreneurs as pilot initiatives.