Over the past 22 months Alberta Women Entrepreneurs has been hard at work facilitating the creation of an impact paper that will revolutionize the way that women entrepreneurs are supported in Alberta.
Using a collective impact model, 68 organizations from across six regional areas of the province – Edmonton, Calgary, Grande Prairie, St. Paul, Medicine Hat, and Lethbridge – have come together to address some of the biggest challenges facing women entrepreneurs. This new strategic approach will create a more sustainable path forward to overcome these barriers.
“We want to foster inclusiveness and diversity for all women from all regions and all types of businesses,” says Bev Latter, program specialist with Alberta Women Entrepreneurs.
After facilitating over 27 listening sessions with the partners, a steering committee helped create a strategic framework that identifies five core barriers to entrepreneurial success. Each areas was guided by team leads, and these will drive the short-and long-term goals moving forward. They include:
1. Purposeful Connections led by Jennifer Pragnell, Scotiabank, Joanne Comessotti, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Anita Kemp, Women’s Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH)
2. Gender-Based Bias Training led by Kari Morton, Business Link; Kathryn Hotte, Prospect Now
3. Collective Return on Investment led by Heather Braid, MacEwan University, Keltie Gower, Edmonton Regional Innovation Network (ERIN)
4. Utilization of Technology led by Bev Latter, AWE, and supported by Lan Tan, TEC Edmonton
5. Financial Knowledge Empowerment led by Marie-Laure Polydore, Futurepreneur; Abdoulaye Barry, Action for Healthy Communities
By bringing together entrepreneurial organizations who have similar objectives and moving from a fragmented approach to a collaborative approach where each region and group is represented, women entrepreneurs can have a space where they are supported to start, grow, and sustain their business no matter where they are in the province.
And this is beneficial for more than just the entrepreneurs. Latter says that “from day one there was a significant response from partners to see this work move forward”.
“The collaboration is really all about being mutually beneficial, but the relationship also involves this trust and commitment and then shared responsibility,” says Latter.
Led by AWE, Alberta is the first province in Canada to launch a cohesive approach that will focus each organization’s unique skills and resources towards a common vision. The hope is that this work can serve as a roadmap of best practices for other communities and provinces who are looking to see greater impact through a more collaborative approach. Creating a shared vision and building commitment across the province and country about what supporting women entrepreneurs can look like, encourages better societal discussions and real action towards removing barriers.
“We really need to do a lot more work in creating awareness and understanding support for women as a collective consciousness within our country,” says Latter. “We see the financial contributions that could be enabled by simply increasing the percentage of women who are growing their businesses. If we're going to be a globally competitive country, we need to support more women.”
The AWE Strengthening Partnerships “Leveraging Economic Opportunities for Women in Alberta” Impact Paper was presented on February 1, 2022, with specific calls to action that will support the recommendations within the framework. But even though the paper has been two years in the making, it’s just the start of this provincewide partnership.
“A dramatic and durable impact is only possible when you're in partnership working together,” says Latter. “That's what we've been hearing.”
