Initiatives
The United States-Mexico Council for Entrepreneurship and Innovation created the Women Entrepreneurs Subcommittee in response to the High Level Economic Dialogue (HLED) signed by the governments of Mexico and the United States, which specifically focused on promoting women's entrepreneurship with a binational approach parallel to the iCluster high-impact entrepreneurship initiative.
In the words of then-Vice President John Biden: “Both of our governments also recognize that women's empowerment and participation in economic affairs is crucial. Mexico and the United States have finalized an Action Plan for the United States-Mexico Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Promotion of Gender Equality, the Empowerment of Women and the Human Rights of Women. Additionally, Mexico joined the Equal Futures Alliance and in September 2014 presented its National Action Plan to meet the objectives of the Alliance. In addition, under MUSEIC, we find ways to increasingly integrate women into growing economic sectors through the creation of networks of women entrepreneurs, mentoring projects, training programs, and the creation of a guarantee fund to facilitate access for women. women to finance. Finally, the Mexican Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is working closely with the US Department of Labor on a project to implement the new Federal Labor Law to prevent gender and sexual orientation discrimination in employment in Mexico. We are also actively participating in discussions to eliminate regulatory divergences to cut red tape and help businesses on both sides of the border.
The core objective of the MUSEIC Women Entrepreneurship Subcommittee was endorsed since 2012 by organizations supporting women's overcoming under the principles of the Knowledge Women Innovation Spaces Living Lab. Starting in 2013, it worked hand in hand with the iCluster Subcommittee under the HLED principles, signing in September 2014 a collaboration agreement with WeConnect International, who acted as U.S. Co-Chair of this Subcommittee. Under the terms of this this agreement the TuRetoEmprendedor knowledge network offered a means to link women entrepreneurs in Mexico as a first step of the binational entailment pilot to face this challenge.
This MUSEIC Subcommittee agreed that it is essential to raise awareness about the benefits of women's economic empowerment in the Mexican economy and its importance for the well-being of society. It aimed to raise awareness about the importance of women's participation in the regional market, particularly for development and growth.
The Subcommittee established three working groups to focus on:
1) Increasing public awareness of the role of women in the economy;
2) Improve women entrepreneurs' access to finance; and
3) Training women entrepreneurs to develop business leadership and management skills
The work of these groups at a binational level was supported and strengthened by a close relationship established with multiple international organizations devoted to women overcoming, such as WeConnect, RetosFemeninos, VitalVoices, and Value for Women.