Chile has the third highest female unemployment rate in the OECD, 11.81%, according to the PwC report “Women in Work 2021”. Aware that the pandemic has had an even greater impact on female labor participation, in March of this year the Fuundacón Luksic launched its new entrepreneurship program Despega Mujer, which aims to empower the country’s female entrepreneurs to encourage them to move into a higher segment of business.
“Winning this award has changed my life. I have received a lot of training and I immediately started to apply what I learned. It is incredible all the support I have received, it has even boosted my self-esteem,” says María Cristina Miranda, one of the winners of the first edition of Despega Mujer.
Given the positive effect the program has had on the businesses of the women entrepreneurs participating in the first version, the Fundación Luksic will hold a second edition of Despega Mujer, for which 50 women entrepreneurs will be selected from the regions of Coquimbo and Biobío.
“The winners of the first edition of Despega Mujer have demonstrated the great capabilities and tremendous drive that we know Chilean women entrepreneurs have. Our objective is to provide them with opportunities and tools so that they can strengthen their businesses and, at the same time, improve their quality of life and that of their families. We want to reach more women in the country with this comprehensive support, we know that now more than ever they need a program with these characteristics. That is why we have decided to carry out this second edition, doubling the number of winners and we hope to continue developing new editions of Despega Mujer”, said Paola Luksic, president of Fundación Luksic.
The beneficiaries of Despega Mujer will receive $2 million pesos to invest in their businesses plus 5 months of technical and academic support through a training program and personalized mentoring by experts from Corporación Simón de Cirene.
In addition, through the Corporación Construyendo Mis Sueños, “learning circles” will be created, where the 50 women entrepreneurs will be able to meet monthly to share their experiences and accompany each other in this important process. These meetings will be supported by a tutor who will teach them self-management skills so that the circles can continue after the program ends.
“This initiative is very necessary in these times of reactivation, especially because it serves a segment of entrepreneurship in which a more specialized offer adapted to their stage as entrepreneurs is needed. Despega Mujer is a great opportunity that aims to strengthen the businesses of women entrepreneurs, which we hope will help to increase their productivity and reduce certain risks they face on a daily basis, especially in a pandemic scenario,” said Karina Gómez, Commercial and Social Manager of Fondo Esperanza.
In its first version, the program had 20 winners from the Antofagasta, Los Lagos and Metropolitan regions. For this second edition, the entrepreneurial applicants, who will have received prior financing from Fondo Esperanza and Banigualdad, will be from all the municipalities in the regions of Coquimbo and Biobío.
“We are very grateful that our women entrepreneurs can participate in Despega Mujer, as we know that it is a comprehensive program that will provide them with new tools and important resources so that they can strengthen their businesses. This type of initiative is highly valued by our women entrepreneurs, and it also complements our social project very well and helps us to add value to our work with them,” said Héctor Feeley, general manager of Banigualdad.
During August and September, the entrepreneurs who will participate in this second version of Despega Mujer will be selected, and the program will begin to be implemented in October. All information about the Fundación Luksic entrepreneurship program will be published on the website www.fundacionluksic.cl.
