The article entitled “Reinvention after 50 – How to start a business in midlife, from four women who did it” from Canada’s Globe and Mail includes insights from women who decided to launch businesses later in life. Suggestions include asking for help. making use of resources and grants, committing to a beginner’s mindset to be coachable and turning back to help others as you move forward on your path.
This piece from Southern Poverty Law Center highlights over 30 women (including inspirational quotes from each) – including Rita Moreno, Megan Rapinoe, Gloria Steinem, Alice Walker and more.
Unconventional times can create impactful change. Syrian women have begun to be elected as camp leaders in their Lebanese refugee communities. While these women would have been expected to stay at home in their native Syria, the turmoil caused by war has begun to shift some of these traditional norms. One of the female leaders who heads up camp of hundreds of refugees, Hind Al-Haad, stated,”Circumstances can either form obstacles or push [women] forward.” Learn more about these amazing women in this BBC piece.
Dr. Jennifer Doudna, who is a professor at the University of California-Berkeley as well as a 2020 Nobel prize winner for her pioneering work in CRISPR gene editing, has recently launched a program entitled “Women in Enterprising Science” (WIES). The goal of the program is to enhance gender equity in bio-entrepreneurship. The program seeks to achieve this by offering scientific entrepreneurs the opportunity to receive up to $1 million of funding to create and grow new ventures around promising genomic and emerging biotechnologies. To learn more about this initiative, read this article in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.
Bank of America announced their commitment to continue to fund the Institute for Women’s Entrepreneurship at Cornell so that we can bring another 50,000 students through the program at no cost to participants. That will bring our total number to 100,000!
There was an additional press piece reported by Bloomberg that mentioned the expansion of the program and also highlighted one of our program graduates. We are so excited to have the opportunity to continue to work with such a diverse and inspiring group of entrepreneurs in the years ahead!