We love women entrepreneurs

L-R: Mdm. MacDella Cooper, our new friend and activist from Liberia; Alicia Koné, Owner and President, Koné Consulting; and Mdm. Elodie Kouadio, Founder and President of WEL NGO)

We LOVE women entrepreneurs! In honor of Valentine’s Day and our recent work in Côte d’Ivoire with the NGO Women Entrepreneurs & Leaders (W.E.L.), we’d like to share some favorite moments from our visit, as well as let you in on some behind-the-scenes developments as a result. WEL’s aim is to empower women and girls, so they might have greater access to education, opportunities for skilled work, and experience financial stability and independence.

 Our trusty tour bus pulled into the University Bouaké where we found nearly 60 young women in attendance for our WEL panel discussion featuring fellow travelers Alicia Koné, Karin Ellis, Christine Ellis, Mariah Henkel, Madeleine Levin and Katharina Brinschwitz. WEL founder Mdm. Elodie Kouadio acted as facilitator as each panelist shared their personal journey which led to becoming professional women/entrepreneurs. The students who attended the event had intelligent, compelling questions for our panelists, and were eager to interact during the reception that followed. The three issues the young women prioritized working on included:

·      Increased services for women who cannot read

·      Increased funding for social impact projects

·      Support for under-privileged women in school

We are continuing to work with WEL NGO to follow up on the results of the strategic planning workshop. Through virtual meetings we will be developing a proposal and seeking ideas for funding the next phase. If you have thoughts, or are interested in joining our planning committee, please reach out to Karin at karin.ellis@koneconsulting.com .

We were also joined by Mdm. MacDella Cooper, Liberian philanthropist and Founder of the MacDella Cooper Foundation, whom we met by chance at the Abidjan Zoo a few days earlier. Mdm. Cooper is working to improve human rights and access to education for women and girls in Liberia.

Check out some clips of our panel here: https://youtu.be/d6HxKwg_8vk?t=292

To learn more about our Travel With Purpose tour, click here.

(Photos, below: Mariah Henkel converses with a pair of students using her phone via google translate; panel participants and attendees; a group of attendees, including a young woman who has started her own jacket manufacturing business)