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Minutes -‐ Pre-‐Summit Workshop Sankalp Unconvention Summit 2014 Investing In and Building High-‐Impact Enterprises for Empowering Women and Girls: An action plan for gender lens investing and incubation Hotel Renaissance, Powai, Mumbai, India, 9:30am – 1pm, 9 April 2014 Introduction The field of gender lens investing believes in the power of finance to generate large-‐scale social and financial return. Increasing women’s economic opportunities and entrepreneurship is widely recognized to contribute to per capital income growth, poverty reduction and sustainable development. Yet with only a year to go considerable headway is still required to accelerate progress towards Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 -‐ the promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment. There is significant scope for innovative high impact enterprises to promote women’s economic empowerment through providing the opportunity for women to own and lead their own social enterprise, generating positive livelihood returns for women employees, deliberately considering organizational policies and practices that advance women’s economic empowerment by suppliers (including producers) and distributors, as well as providing products and services specifically for or tailored to the needs and impact on women and girls as a consumer segment.
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) joined forces with support from Criterion Institute, Deloitte, Energize Her and Intellecap, for a pre-‐summit workshop at the Sankalp Unconvention Summit 2014 on 9 April 2014 in Mumbai to explore how the ecosystem can unite to develop an action plan on gender lens investing and incubation to support building high impact enterprises that promote women and girl’s empowerment? This workshop report summarizes the discussion from the workshop.
SESSION 1:
GIZ Presentation: Context setting for the workshop Stefanie Bauer and Katherine Miles, on behalf of GIZ presented the results to date of a GIZ study exploring how the social entrepreneurship ecosystem can unite to develop an action plan on gender lens incubation and investing for enterprises focused on the low income market segment in India? Based on a consultation of gender and social entrepreneurship experts in over 25 organizations internationally, they set out an emerging a framework for defining and recognizing high impact enterprises that promote women and girl’s empowerment. This considers these enterprises as Micro, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) with significant growth potential that deliver positive social impacts and returns related to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls, while focusing on delivering products and services to consumers at the Base of the Pyramid (BOP). Moreover, they stressed such enterprises can have gender equality impacts and empower women (and girls) through the organizational leadership or management, at an operational level through all aspects of its business model and also through their product and service impacts which may focus on those that relate to the biologically defined needs
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of a female, or the socially constructed gendered needs of a women or girls. They noted that there is a business case for gender diversity in the management and workforce of organizations in terms of financial performance, innovation, retention and reduced absenteeism, as well as the benefits from a perspective of reaching and marketing to a consumer segment of women and girls.
It was concluded that evidence suggests that there is a commercial advantage for those businesses that integrate a gender lens, and that increasing investor interest in applying a gender criteria to their investment decision making means that enterprises that do manage these considerations may attract specific gender lens funding. Nevertheless, they noted there is a need for further aggregated level impact research to continue to build the case for gender lens incubation and investment, and a push for the integration of gender criteria in mainstream incubation programmes and investment activities, as well as the establishment of specialist funds that focus on enterprises that empower women and girls.
It was noted how this workshop would contribute to the study in terms of challenges and solutions facing these types of organizations, as well as recommendations for the various interested organizations including donors, philanthropic investors, incubators, and impact investors among others in terms of supporting a field for gender lens incubation and investment.
Enterprise Pitches A number of Indian based enterprises whose business models empower women and girls presented their business model in brief 2 minute pitches, in order to illustrate the conceptualization of the framework of how enterprises can empower women and girls. Presentations were given by:
• Menstropedia – Tuhin Paul and Aditi Gupta • Manndeshi Bank – Poonam Mane • Aakar Innovations – Sombodhi Ghosh
One philanthropic fund, the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (Stevie Valdez), also presented how they integrate gender considerations into their grant funding decisions, and provided details of their Women’s Empowerment Fund.
Subgroup Work This part of the workshop focused on the question of what are the challenges facing enterprises that promote women and girl’s empowerment? The participants were split into 6 subgroups with two groups each discussing one of three case studies where they focused on the gender challenges and solutions for different types of high impact enterprise that empower women and girls.
Groups 1 & 2 Subgroup Facilitators: Urvashi Devida (Thomson Reuters Foundation) & Sudasana Kundu (Partners4Change)
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Challenges
Solutions
• Time constraints balancing home and entrepreneurial commitments
• Productivity –time management. Does it affect productivity and how?
• Support services missing: Childcare, and lack of family support & lack of public transportation
• Lack of public sanitation suitable for women in rural areas
• Woman’s role perceptions and expectations of a women’s role in society which results in questions on a women’s capacity + competency to run a business. Plus a lack of seriousness of businesses run by women
• Access to credit to scale up the business. • Peer group support missing. Are there other
women entrepreneurs to talk and discuss with?
• The power dynamic of a wealthier women entering a rural area.
• In a rural setting, there are more festivals
• A need for sensitisation workshops with women to provide a forum for them to discuss these challenges with each other and share ideas for
• Building support systems for women entrepreneurs related to child care including at her workspace which also caters to the women working in the business.
• Women friendly private toilets • The involvement of men who are associated
to women entrepreneurs through sensitization workshops
• Financial literacy workshops • Use women allies-‐champions as role models • Mobile technology for connecting women
producers to buyers • Develop a system for collective responsibility
among women like self-‐help groups to provide each other with support.
Case Study One
You are a woman entrepreneur who has recently set up an enterprise headquartered in Jaipur that contracts with women producers of traditional textile products in the state of Rajasthan. You are well educated and studied design in the Indian Institute of Fashion in New Delhi before setting up your business with your savings and some money from some relatives. You are married with a 4 year old child whose husband is a business man that often travels for work. While you are based in Jaipur, your nearest relatives live in Delhi. You have received a conditional grant from an international investment fund on the condition you identify and manage the gender related challenges that you personally face that may negatively impact on your business. Specifically they request you create an action plan to overcome these challenges.
In your subgroup, identify and define the potential gender related challenges you individually face as a women entrepreneur running an enterprise in India, as well as the challenges working with women producers in your supply chain that may impede the development of your enterprise.
Also identify the potential solutions to overcome these challenges.
To what extent would some of these challenges be the same or different for the women working as producers in the supply chain?
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and social expectations of workers to participate which have implications for the consistency and reliability of workers in the supply chain.
• Exploitation and harassment as a woman • Male leadership among producers and
distributers
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Groups 3 & 4 Subgroup Facilitators: Patty Alleman (US Aid) & Aditi Shrivastava (Intellecap)
Challenges
Solutions
• Woman’s role – caregivers vs. economic engagement
• Sexual harassment, especially when men are in more senior roles
• Male ego issues when women earn more than their husbands
• The family needs to be comfortable ‘allowing’ women to be away at work from 9 to 5 which would be more pronounced with distributors who are expected to travel for door to door marketing
• Access to working capital • Transport: stoves heavy which may present
problems for distribution
• Technology as an enabler • Female to female sales talks work better due
to greater understanding & trust • Flexi-‐hours, home office • Engaging with the family of women
employees to build awareness of the benefits of women being able to contribute to family income
• Annual day with families, health & education awareness programs with family members
• A management and organizational structure incorporating women at all levels of the organization
• Identify other stakeholders within the communities with shared mandates to collaborate with on behaviour change communication and product awareness. For example, schools.
Case Study Two
You lead a high impact enterprise headquartered in New Delhi that produces and distributes clean cook stoves. Women are a key resource to the business as producers of the ceramic clean cook stoves and you directly employ them in your business, and then you sell the stoves using a team of women distributers. You have received a grant from an international investment fund on the condition you seek to identify and manage the gender related challenges among the workforce and your team of women distributers. They see these challenges as a risk that may negatively impact on your business and so specifically they request you create an action plan to overcome these challenges.
In your subgroup, identify and define the potential gender related operational challenges faced by the enterprise in terms of the employment of women to produce and distribute the clean cook stoves?
Also identify the potential solutions to overcome these challenges?
To what extent would some of these challenges be the same or different for the women working as producers or as distributers?
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Groups 5&6 Subgroup facilitators: Gayle Peterson (Partners4Change) & Stefanie Bauer (GIZ)
Challenges
Solutions
• Does the target customer need the product or not? For example, breast pumps? Not sure.
• Building education and awareness for push products
• Need to create a wider conversation about
Case Study
You an ideas stage enterprise headquartered in Calcutta that seeks to distribute breast pumps and sanitary towels to low income women and girls in the region. You are entering a business model competition for seed funding to pilot the idea. In the application form, you have to identify the challenges your enterprise may face in its business model to target the low income market segment, and in turn to reach and market to women and girl customers and provide them with after sales customer service. Specifically they request you state how you will overcome these challenges, as well as define metrics to track the impact the products have on women and girls.
In your subgroup, identify and define the potential gender related operational challenges faced by the enterprise in terms of the targeting, marketing to and servicing the women and girls customer segment.
Also identify the potential solutions to overcome these challenges?
Finally suggest metrics to track the positive gender impact the products have on women and girls.
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• Consider products from a rural perspective rather than the urban perspective. In a rural environment there is a need for a market analysis to understand if there is a market need.
• Taboos and the fundamental question as to whether the target women actually need a sanitary napkin? Does she need it? Does she have the money to buy it? Even if she is aware of the product can she access it?
• Do the poorest of the poor whose needs are the lowest in the value chain in the family, do they see a value in a sanitary napkin rather than a piece of cloth?
• A mother may pay for a child’s napkin but not for herself.
• Sanitary towels are push products. Behaviour change communication is required which requires market insight studies and long term strategies.
• Disposal of the product is a challenge. • Distribution – traditional models such as the
Asha model may not work for the products. These products often have a stigma which needs breaking and behavioural change needed
• Costly to distribute to rural markets • Access: retailers are mostly men and women
do not like to buy from men • High transaction costs: distribution, building
up value chain, production, etc. • Raising capital as hybrid (non-‐profit) • Access to finance • Engagement of men on the same agenda is
missing • How do you create access to products? • Rural mind-‐set is needed not a metropolitan
mind-‐set o These may be urban products which
are not compatible with rural needs
menstrual hygiene and management • Need to do homework on the market first
before test the product. • Distribution centres: the last mile
distribution. Using Asha workers, school teachers. These products are private and cannot be given out in a public place.
• How is it that a sanitary towel will have a greater impact than a piece of cloth. Still need research to show that the health impact is there.
• Infrastructure/marketing: introduce products in good conditions/environment
• Create basket of products: cosmetics, sanitary products are a push product
• Involve micro entrepreneurs in production • Direct selling to cut out middlemen • Club products with government schemes
(e.g. mother/child nutrition) • Educate the boys, explain biology, involve
local doctors, young girls and teachers to break the stigma.
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PART 2: Presentation USAID
Patty Alleman on behalf of USAID gave a presentation on Gender Lens incubation and Investment. She provided a definition of gender lens investing as an investment approach that intentionally uses gender as a category of analysis and value to create both financial return and positive social impact that is actively measured. She stated that three primary investment objectives or “lenses” can be identified across this emerging segment: Women-‐Run Businesses, i.e., Investments that increase access to capital for women entrepreneurs and businesses that have women in leadership positions; Gender Equity in the Workplace, i.e., Investments that promote gender equity by investing in private sector companies with leading gender policies and strategies; and Products & Services Benefiting Women & Girls i.e., Investments that direct capital to socially responsible businesses that develop and offer products and services benefiting women and girls. While the focus is on applying a single gender lens at minimum, ideally companies will apply multiple gender lenses.
Studies of why there is a business card to having a gender lens approach were set out. In turn, Patty noted that donors have decades of experience of gender lens in their investments and programmes, as well as how to measure impact and outcomes.
She stressed that the focus of the discussion should go beyond the number of women owned businesses within a portfolio, beyond head counting, to develop more meaningful metrics. But that it is something that needs to be achieved collectively by bringing together both gender and financial experts and, bridging the differences in terminology used. Moreover there is a need to pull in expertise from think tanks to help.
Ecosystem Pitches
• Neera Nundy, DASRA
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• Verity Corbett, Be Fund
Subgroups During this part of the session, the participants broke up into 6 subgroups which then rotated around 3 different ‘stations’ each with a different table host. Stations represented the different ecosystem players: donors & DFIs; incubators & philanthropic capital and impact investors. At each table they discussed the same question but considered in turn each stakeholder group: What is the role of [stakeholder] in providing support to support high impact enterprises that promote the empowerment of women and girls, what existing support is provided, where are there gaps and what are recommendations for the future?
Donor: Subgroup facilitators: Stefanie Bauer (GIZ) & Patty Alleman (USAID)
Role & Existing support -‐ To provide capital support -‐ To provide policy advocacy Gaps
Recommendations
-‐ Sector understanding -‐ Seed capital
-‐ Establishment of metrics/modules in order to push enterprises
-‐ Collaboration with corporates to channel their CSR funds towards high impact enterprises
-‐ Joint investments with impact investors to mitigate risks
-‐ Mechanisms how entrepreneurs can change behaviour to get access to finance
-‐ Policy advocacy to engage with governments
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Impact investors: Subgroup Facilitators: Gayle Peterson (Partners4Change) & Aditi Shrivastava (Intellecap)
Role & Existing support
-‐ To provide finance. Gaps
Recommendations
Gaps: Perhaps too many lenses? o Impact already strong lens o Lenses often stigmatised with
stereotypes (napkins, nursery) o Gender lens perhaps no separate
lens o Some investors are not really
interested in impact, but just in numbers
-‐ Learning sector: definitions needed, care about gender or proactive approach
-‐ No women on the top of funds which is a problem for gender lens investing
-‐ Understanding of power and family dimensions necessary and so a training for investors is required
-‐ Men and women should work together and it is necessary to include men in communication
-‐ Capacity building for female entrepreneurs (e.g. financial literacy)
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Incubators/Philanthropists: Subgroup Facilitators: Neera Nundy (DASRA) & Verity Corbett (Be Fund!)
Role & Existing Support
-‐ To capacity building/training (e.g. Business planning, modelling) and provide access to finance.
-‐ To take risk, provide pre-‐seed capital for prototyping and “de-‐risk” ventures – be “early, gender-‐focussed philanthropy”.
Gaps
Recommendations
-‐ Proactive sourcing of women entrepreneurs -‐ Application of a gender lens in incubation
structure -‐ Motivation for men/boys -‐ Publishing role models and best practices -‐ Incubators and philanthropic funds need to
act to connect investors and investees more, and while there are platforms connecting philanthropy with finance they are few and far between and hard to find -‐ this needs to change.
-‐ Be transparent: who is your target group? -‐ Household responsibilities -‐ incubation
model should support private flexibility for women
-‐ Research -‐ Men programmes -‐ Platform to connect philanthropy and
finance
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APPENDIX
Participants List
First Name Last Name City Name of Organization DesignationAnurag Agrawal Hyderabad Intellecap CEOShama Karkal Bangalore Swasti DirectorDebaleena Ray Barpeta Tamul Plates Marketing Pvt. Ltd. Manager - Training & DocumentationSalone Mithal Ghosh Mumbai TARI ConsultantErin Quinn New Delhi Dimagi Field ManagerMichael MacHarg Portland Mercy Corps Sr. Advisor, Social EnterpriseKaren Woodin Mumbai Mahindra Brand ManagerAnupa Pant Kathmandu IFC- World Bank Group Agribusiness SpecialistWei Wei Hsing Mumbai Acumen Senior Impact AssociateSaara Hafeez New York Neuberger Berman MissAsma Kathiwalla Mumbai Thomson Reuters Foundation Program OfficerHannah Schiff New York The Global Impact Investing Network Senior Associate, ResearchSijo George Cochin Startup Village CEONeha Juneja Mumbai Greenway Grameen Co-founder & CEOSanjay Banka Hyderabad Banka BioLoo non-executive directorKaron Shaiva Mumbai Idobro Chief Impact Officer & MDTuhin Paul Ahmedabad Menstrupedia CofounderDevashish Dass Mumbai Idobro Impact Head, PatrnershipsPrasad Bhide Mumbai Aaji Care-at-Home Services FounderRashi Agarwal Singapore Impact Investment Shujog ManagerMs.Poonam Mane Pune Mann Deshi Foundation Program DirectorRupali Avinash Mumbai Idobro Impact Manager- PartnershipVerity Corbett Delhi Going to School Impact DirectorEleanor Horowitz Bangalore Unitus Seed Fund AnalystSnigdha Rao Bangalore Aavishkaar Senior Investment ManagerDiksha Madhok Delhi Startup Village Community managerNishita Murarka Mumbai Dasra Portfolio AssociateNeera Nundy Mumbai Dasra CoFounder & PartnerSuzi Soza Austin (USA) Verb Inc CEOArielle Salomon Mumbai EFL Account ManagerJames Dien Bui Ho Chi Minh City Lotus Impact Managing DirectorJames Dien Bui Ho Chi Minh City Lotus Impact Managing DirectorAjaita Shah Jaipur Frontier Markets CEOMwnabili Brahma Guwahati Delaithi Ethnic World ChairpersonTapash Chatterjee Mitaan Sewa Samiti SecretaryAruna Raman Indian Institute for Human Settlements Senior Associate - IIHS Urban IncubatorPranshu Healthera Co-founder