GAME is committed to catalyzing an ecosystem of 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2030 and is making strong strides towards addressing this issue. Several studies have shown that 25% of social enterprises in India are led by women. However, women entrepreneurs are often subject to discrimination from their families, communities, and investors when compared to male peers. According to studies, the proportion of women-owned enterprises that hire three or more workers is a mere 2.7 % as compared to men which is 6.3%. This month Meghalaya Government has launched the strategy document on the Promotion and Incubation of Market- driven Enterprises (PRIME) program in the State of Meghalaya – GAME contributed in putting this strategy in place. The intent of the program is to guide entrepreneurship development in Meghalaya and provide significant direction towards building a strong entrepreneurship- focused ecosystem. One of the aspects covered involves the development of the SHG model which aims to create 50,000 first generation entrepreneurs, many of them being women, by the end of March 2021.
Along with the launch of the first-ever Meghalaya Entrepreneurship Promotion Strategy report, some other highlights in this month’s newsletter include a guest column by Lakshmi V. Venkatesan, the founder of BYST; a brief on Kinara Capital joining us as our newest Alliance member; the launch of the Peer Network Project that aims to develop a peer network of 200 entrepreneurs, across 20 locations in Bangalore, and information on the Indian Women Social Entrepreneurs Network by Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, in addition to spotlighting on a couple of our Alliance partners such as WeWork and Girl Effect.