Kota Expert Insights: Meeting of the Business and Non-Profit Minds Jul 2, 2015

Managing an NGO and Empowering Others to Manage Their Own Businesses – Rachel & Francia on Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Global South and North Women’s economic empowerment through starting small businesses, sometimes referred to as MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises), is one of the big trends in development work, and there are many interesting discussions in the social entrepreneurship, or triple-bottom-line-thinking movement (people, planet, profit) which combines business growth and social goals. Rachel Patterson and Francia Smith, experts in global development and women’s entrepreneurship, share their key insights on two aspects of the the issue: 1) non-governmental organizations’ (NGOs)’management of themselves, and 2) considerations for NGOs working in women’s entrepreneurship.

Part 1. Understanding entrepreneurship: Francia Smith on how women’s non-profits can benefit from applying business processes in their own work “We have a thing called ‘the business model’. Many businesses don’t apply that model well. It would be fantastic to see non-profits do it better. Processes of planning, analytics, and systems support integration are central for the success of any organization”: Video – #Kota Expert Insights with Francia Smith Francia Smith is an experimental psychologist and has over 25 years experience creating innovative programs in Customer Service and Human Resource Management. Her consulting approach is results-oriented based on practical experience in creating innovative customer focused programs for large operations driven, multi-channel organizations. More information on Francia Smith and her work, please see/contact: Email: [email protected] Twitter: @CEYE3too LinkedIn: Francia Smith

Part 2. Understanding projects in the Global South: 1

Rachel Patterson on what a non-profit working in the field of women’s entrepreneurship should take into account

Rachel Patterson of Glocal Consultants.

“Community development projects focused on economic empowerment and entrepreneurship are similar to other kinds of development projects in that you need to understand the socio-economic, cultural context and physical geography context of the project. For example, poor infrastructure and roads, or seasonal weather patterns, can affect accessibility to project participants, and their accessibility to markets. But regular contact is important to ensure projects continue moving forward, so these practical details need to be taken into account when planning and evaluating project expenses and outcomes (e.g. buying a 4-wheel drive car may be necessary, or reducing materials to something a person can carry on foot may be necessary, or you’ll visit with fewer project partners in the rainy season or figure ways to communicate or do training via cell phone, etc). In terms of entrepreneurship projects, and particularly women’s entrepreneurship, a few additional issues may come into play. There are classist and tribal societies which allow greater and lesser access to resources based on your group, similarly some areas have religious or cultural norms which ‘protect’ women and encourage them to stay home, unless they have a purpose for going elsewhere. In order for your project to succeed, you must recognize that you’re shifting power dynamics, so must identify and try to work with all stakeholders and potential stumbling blocks. By all means focus on the women, but recognize and attempt to address stumbling blocks (whether logistical or personal)

3 Core Tasks: Align Incentives – Identify Leaders – Communicate! “Whatever your context, there are three basic tasks to help you to succeed: 1. Find your stakeholders and align incentives: For instance, find ways to get husbands and community leaders to be supportive of the concept of women’s entrepreneurship, or to see the positives of

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reproductive health and rights (and while you’re at it, dispel some misconceptions, and there are many who believe these, like being macho= making babies or birth-control begets loose behavior or an IUD causes cancer). 2. Identify natural leaders among the women, those who inspire the others! They will be the best teachers, encouragers, role-models for the others in the programs and whether in formal or informal leadership positions, they are the greatest multipliers for making confidence contagious. 3. As Francia already mentioned, communication is a major consideration. You need to be able to communicate with people in ways they understand– and this goes beyond knowing the local language. It also pertains to understanding how the particular person learns, and to making sure the examples or images used in communicating make sense (eg in a business plan workshop in southern Jordan, I created an illustrative example of an organic spices export business, but the marketing strategy didn’t really compute because, while they were very familiar with importing and exporting, that in/organic distinction didn’t exist there!).”

…And the Ultimate Task: Ask Questions! “Just as in developed countries, not everyone is built to be an entrepreneur, so support and encourage, but do not force people. That said, people in the developing world generally have to live with such perseverance and hardiness that much about execution is easier for them than those of us from the developed nations might expect. Be aware that they have been promised things and let down so often by their governments, campaigning politicians, aid agencies, that they lose trust in promises of potential and have little time to waste on them; so most will continue to do what was always done. Sincerity and follow-through are key. Support services, for example training in product development, in recognizing customer segments and their desires, in financial management, even things as tactical as developing labels, and so on, can really help.

In sum, your most important task is to ask these two questions:  What can people become comfortable with?  How can you help them come to their own, culture-adapted and resources-availablelocally solutions?” Rachel Patterson is the founding partner at Glocal Consultants. She is a seasoned development, communications and management professional who has has worked in 12 countries in general management, project management, and development consulting, with both for-profits as well as with non-profits in the health, education, international development and the arts spaces. More information on Rachel Patterson and her work, please see/contact: Website: http://glocalconsultantsgroup.com/ Email: [email protected] Twitter: @MultiCultiDev

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LinkedIn: Rachel Patterson

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The Kota Alliance wants to help underserved organizations excel and collaborate, by offering both programmatic and technical support. In the future, Kota will also provide office, co-working, event, and conference space, as well as lodging for visitors – all at affordable prices. This will be accomplished by creating the space as a social enterprise, and use of the building at market rates by anyone wishing to contribute to the cause. In late Spring 2015, Kota organized an event, #KotaDay to offer opportunities for networking and colearning — in essence, to showcase its core mission. The day featured keynotes by economist and author, Dambisa Moyo; Lopa Banerjee, Chief of the Civil Society Section at UNWomen; and Sheryl WuDunn, Author of A Path Appears. Some hundred participants also attended 14 interactive workshops, topics of which ranged from girls’ rights and women’s in conflict situations, to fundraising and legal issues.

This series of posts features Expert Insights from selected workshops and their leaders. We hope you find them useful for your non-profit or related work!

Francia Smith and Sheryl WuDunn on #KotaDay2015

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