WEI GEET+
Pilot Project
GENDER-SMART ENTREPRENEURSHIP EDUCATION and TRAINING PLUS
(GEET+)
The Community of Practice
The GEET+ Action Strategy incorporates Gender-Smart Entrepreneurship Education & Training evidence-based insights to construct inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems as drivers for the economic empowerment of girls, women and other disadvantaged groups.
Led by the Women’s Economic Imperative (WEI) with funding from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada), the GEET+ Action Strategy pilot project has been launched to adapt, test and refine the GEET+ scorecard in Peru, Mexico, Kenya and Nigeria.
The Community of Practice will collaborate to strengthen the design and delivery of entrepreneurship education and training courses and programs to reduce gender, racial and occupational stereotypes and unconscious biases associated with entrepreneurship.
The pilot project will document barriers to inclusion at the organizational, program and course levels with respect to demonstrated commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion within EET intermediaries. The objectives of the GEET+ Project are to:
Enhance awareness and effectiveness of EET supports within universities by addressing gender, occupational and other biases in solution design
1Refine measures and assessment criteria to support gender equality in EET. Entrepreneurship Education and Training (EET)
2Facilitate EET knowledge sharing among academic, industry, non-governmental and government stakeholders including to catalyze networks where they do not already exist.
3Strengthen pathways for women to build and scale enterprises. Strengthen pathways for women to build and scale enterprises, including efforts to strengthen pipelines of viable and bankable women-owned and led SMEs
4LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WEI GEET+ Team
Dr. Patricia Alonso Galicia
Mexico
Dr. Patricia Alonso Galicia
Mexico
Patricia holds a Doctor in Administration degree from the University of Cantabria and is a member of the Santander Chair in Family Business at the University of Granada, Spain. Currently, she is a professor of entrepreneurship at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Campus Queretaro where she develops research in entrepreneurial cognition, academic entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education. She has published her work in high impact scientific journals such as European Management Journal and Journal of Managerial Psychology. In addition, she has been Director of the Entrepreneurial Institute of San Luis (IESL) for the Economic Development Department of the City Council of San Luis Potosí (2012-2015). Her teaching experience is associated with strategy, costs, creativity, entrepreneurial financing, and acceleration of family businesses. She has co-authored the book "Startup U: High Impact Entrepreneurs" which has been published in Mexico and Spain and leads the Querétaro regional team for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor study since 2018.
Dr. Barbara Orser
Canada
Dr. Barbara Orser
Canada
Barbara J. Orser is a Full Professor, and the Deloitte Professor in the Management of Growth Enterprises at Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa (Canada). Her research and industry outreach focus on gender and women’s entrepreneurship, finance, SME procurement and policy. Current studies include a 19-nation study on women’s enterprise policies, typology of women-focused capital funds, federal SME procurement, gender influences in ICT adoption among small businesses, and gender-based audit of Canadian accelerators and incubators. Industry engagement includes collaboration with the Canadian Bureau of International Education and INJAZ (Jordan) to construct gender-sensitive entrepreneurship curricula and training.
She is the lead author of over 100 academic and industry publications, including Feminine Capital. Unlocking the Power of Women Enterprise (Stanford University Press, 2015). She is the Founding Chair of the Canadian Taskforce for Women's Business Growth (2009 to 2011) and Founding Co-Chair of the Women Entrepreneurs Ontario Collective (2015 to 2016), non-partisan consortiums of women business owners, training agencies, academics and industry associations to advise on women’s enterprise policies. Dr. Orser has served an advisor to many Canadian federal agencies, APEC, OECD and the US State Department, and is an Editorial Board member of the International Journal of gender and Entrepreneurship. Her research and industry contributions have been acknowledged through numerous awards, including Women’s Executive Network ‘100 Most Powerful Women in Canada’ (2010), The International Alliance of Women ‘World of Difference Award’ (2010), and ‘Canada 150 Women’, an award that celebrates feminist leaders, champions and luminaries in Canada’s 150th year.
To view recent industry reports visit http://sites.telfer.uottawa.ca/were/
To view full bio visit https://www.telfer.uottawa.ca/en/directory/professors/orser-barbara
To view academic reports visit https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Barbara_Orser
To view recent outreach visit https://cbie.ca/what-we-do/current-programs/leap-women-jordan/
Samantha Mandigora
Canada
Samantha Mandigora
Canada
Samantha hold’s a Masters degree in Globals Studies. Her research provided a comparative analysis of environmental policies in South Africa and the United States, with policy recommendations for current and imminent hydraulic fracking activities in both countries. As a Project Coordinator for Women’s Economic Imperative(WEI), Samantha coordinates the formulation and implementation of the work of the Gender-smart Entrepreneurship Education and Training Plus (GEET+) pilot team and its exploratory research in Kenya, Nigeria, Mexico, and Peru. She also currently volunteers as a Grant Writer through Engineers without Borders Canada. This role sees Samantha, working to strengthen the internal systems and capacity of a women-led, small Ugandan business hub looking to expand its outreach. As a Grant Writer, she advises on strategy, grant management, and proposal writing. In previous roles, Samantha has overseen the management of diverse million-dollar international development projects for the former Department for International Development(DFID) and for the United Methodist Committee on Relief(UMCOR).
Dr. Damary Sikalieh
Kenya
Dr. Damary Sikalieh
Kenya
Is an Associate Professor at the Chandaria School of Business at the United States International University in Kenya. She is a Ph.D. graduate in entrepreneurship education and human resource development at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA, in the Department of Human Resource Education. She has experience in Research, Curriculum Development, Teaching, Business and student counseling, Career Development, Program Evaluation, and recently, Environmental Management. With regard to administration, she has served as a Coordinator of several programs in the school and currently serves as the associate dean. In addition, she has served as a Research and Teaching Assistant in the Department of Human Resource Education at the University of Illinois, Urban-Champaign, USA. Her research interests are in the broader areas of management (organizational behavior and organizational development) and entrepreneurship (social and commercial entrepreneurship (women and youth). A recent interest development is in the area of Growing Inclusive Markets, Educational Effectiveness/Quality assurance, and Environmental Impact Assessment.
http://nebula.wsimg.com/bffc51264e3760d2d86fe3d16f0132ec?AccessKeyId=B2C5317B3B9789863CB1&disposition=0&alloworigin=1
Dr. Geoff Gregson
Canada
Dr. Geoff Gregson
Canada
Dr. Geoff Gregson
Geoff Gregson is the founder and principal of Caledonia Consulting, which supports public and private efforts to build capacity and wealth through entrepreneurship and innovation. He is a member of Canada’s GEM team (Global Entrepreneurship Monitor), which carries out research on entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems around the world, and is the lead author of the GEM Canada Reports. As an entrepreneur, he has started up four new ventures and is co-founder and Chairman of Axienta, Ltd, a global software firm. Geoff is currently working as a Senior Consultant with the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton, collaborating with healthcare, academic, industrial, and community partners in evidence-based assessment, development, and commercialization of health innovations, and holds an adjunct appointment with the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Alberta. His educational background includes a PhD, LLM and MSc from the University of Edinburgh (UK), MBA from the University of Calgary and BKin from the University of Alberta.
Dr. Hellen Otieno
Kenya
Dr. Hellen Otieno
Kenya
Dr. Hellen Otieno is the Associate Dean, Academic and Student Affairs and a Senior Lecturer at Strathmore University Business School (SBS). She has a Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship and a Master’s Degree in Economics. In addition to her academic qualifications, she has a certificate in Executive Coaching for Managers and an IFC Certificate in Training of Trainers. Dr. Otieno has over eighteen years of University teaching experience. She is an alumnus of the International Faculty Development Programme of the Prestigious Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa, and the International Faculty Programme (IFP) of the IESE Business School, University of Navarra. These international training and capacity-building workshops have exposed her to the multiplicity of cultures and have enabled her to recognize and appreciate the cultural values of people across the world. They have also enabled her to expand her social, academic as well as research networks across the globe.
Dr. Otieno is also the current Course Leader of the Enterprise Development Program at SBS. EDP is a program that is tailored to offer solutions to challenges entrepreneurs especially SMEs are facing. Through the EDP she trained several entrepreneurs from diverse business backgrounds. These pieces of training have enabled her to gain deep insights into the solutions to some of the challenges facing entrepreneurs today.
Dr. Otieno has strong consultancy and research capacity having participated in several consultancies and research both locally and internationally. Her research interest in Gender-related issues saw her and her colleagues win a Research Grant funded by the International Development and Research Centre (IDRC) to conduct a study on Gender and Enterprise Development in Africa: A Cross-Country Comparative Study of Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana. She is currently involved in a Research Project on Enhancing the effectiveness of government procurement programs in achieving women’s economic empowerment in Kenya.
Dr. Otieno has distinguished herself as an academic researcher has authored several journal articles. She has also attended and presented papers and chaired several local and international conferences. She is the Vice President, Membership of the Academy of African Business Development (AABD). AABD is a prestigious organization that draws membership of scholars and researchers from universities and corporate organizations across the globe. It exists to promote sustainable business and economic development in Africa through strategic intellectual discourse and offering of practical solutions to businesses.
Dr. Geraldina Silveyra León
Mexico
Dr. Geraldina Silveyra León
Mexico
Geraldina Silveyra León
Director of the academic efforts of Instituto de Emprendimiento Eugenio Garza Lagüera. She received her Ph.D. in Business and Management applied to entrepreneurship, small businesses and family firms from Universidad de Cantabria in Spain. She has developed an expertise in entrepreneurship education, development of methodologies for new venture creation (The startup Path, which she is an author of). She has been a consultant and a mentor mainly on business models, business and team development. Also, she has lead differente programs with public funds to promote the internalization and scaleup of Mexican startups. She has a certification by Lego Serious Play. Her current research focuses on entrepreneurship education, entrepreneurship competencies, and intention models, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and the startup process and entrepreneurship with a gender perspective. Member of Mexicos's National System of Researchers (SNI). Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), membership granted until 2022, in the area of social sciences, for scientific productivity.
Dr. Katherina Kuschel
Peru
Katherina Kuschel works as an Associate Researcher at CENTRUM Graduate Business School and Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Peru, 2020) exploring the experience of Latin American women entrepreneurs. In 2019, she co-edited a Routledge book on wellbeing and women entrepreneurs, and a special issue at the International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal on Women Entrepreneurship within STEM.
She developed the research line of women’s innovation and entrepreneurship from an ecosystem perspective at Universidad Tecnológica Metropolitana (Chile, 2018-2019). Kuschel is a team player. She participated in a comprehensive international study on the role of women entrepreneurs in the development of regional innovation ecosystems at Lazaridis School of Business and Economics, Laurier (Canada, 2017). She was Visiting Researcher at the University of Siegen (Germany, 2016) where she led an international collaborative research project on entrepreneurial failure. She was Assistant Professor of Management at the School of Economics and Business - Universidad del Desarrollo (Chile, 2012-2015). Kuschel holds a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Universitat Autònoma, Barcelona (Spain, 2011).
Research Topics
Entrepreneurship, Innovation.
Specific Research Interests
Women’s Entrepreneurship in Technology, Women Founders Identity, Work-Life Balance, Eudaimonic Wellbeing, Entrepreneurial Failure, Women in STEM, Entrepreneurial Education, Regional Innovation & Entrepreneurial Ecosystems.
Dr. Kuthea Nguti
Kenya
Dr. Kuthea Nguti
Kenya
Dr. Kuthea Nguti is the Academic Director for ‘We Create’, an entrepreneurship training programme for needy youth in Kenya. She is also a Faculty member in the Strathmore University Business School. She has consultancy, research, lecturing and training experience in the areas of Entrepreneurship, Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Management, Marketing and Business Planning and Management. Dr. Nguti also has experience in the creation of tailored training programmes for entrepreneurs in various industries and corporate experience in Public Relations, Advertising and Market Research.
She holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree (Ph.D.) in Marketing and a Master of Commerce degree (MCOM), International Business Management specialization, from Strathmore University and a Bachelor of Commerce degree, Marketing specialization, from the University of Nairobi. Her publications, ongoing research work and interests focus on Gender Equity, Diversity and Inclusion issues, Consumer Behavior, Macro-social marketing and Indigenous African Business research.
Dr. Margo Thomas
United States
Dr. Margo Thomas
United States
Dr. Margo Thomas – Founder and CEO, Women’s Economic Imperative
As Founder and CEO of the Women’s Economic Imperative (WEI), Dr. Margo Thomas serves as a catalyst for initiatives aimed at increasing opportunities for the economic empowerment of disadvantaged and under-represented groups around the globe.
Throughout her career spanning more than two decades as a senior official at the World Bank Group, Dr. Thomas has provided policy advice to over fifty national and sub-national governments.
Dr. Thomas successfully completed her appointment as the Chief of Secretariat for the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment in 2017. Under the Argentinian Presidency of the G20, she was appointed as Co-Chair of the 2018 Think 20 Task Force on Gender Economic Equity. Dr. Thomas was invited by the Japanese Presidency to continue her work and serve as Co-Chair of the 2019 Think 20 Task Force on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Under the 2020 Saudi Arabian Presidency of the G20, Dr. Thomas served as a member of the COVID-19 Response Task Force and the Social Cohesion Task Force. Dr. Thomas has been appointed as an inaugural Global Solutions Fellow.
With a Doctoral Degree in Public Policy and Private Sector Development from the University of Manchester, Margo’s areas of focus include trade and competitiveness, business environment reform, regulatory reform, investment policy, and women’s economic empowerment.
Dr. Nathaniel Adebayo
Nigeria
Dr. Nathaniel Adebayo
Nigeria
Dr. Nathaniel Adeyemi Adebayo holds a B.Sc. (Pol/Phil/Economics) combined honours, Master of Business Administration (MBA), and Ph.D. Management Science. He is a member of several academic and professional bodies across the world. These include Academy of Management (USA), African Academy of Management, International Society for Development and Sustainability, Nigerian Economic Society, Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), Academy of International Business.
He was Principal Consultant to Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Employment, Labour and Productivity (Ogun State Office) on National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS)-based Employment Policy and a consultant on World Bank-Funded Study of Ibadan (Nigeria) Solid Wastes Management.
Dr. Adebayo was a Senior Lecturer and Associate Lecturer in the Department of Business Administration and Entrepreneurial Studies, Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria and currently a Chief Lecturer in the Department of Business Administration and Management Studies, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, Nigeria. He had been Head of Department & Deputy Rector in the latter institution.
His research interests cut across Developmental Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurship Education, Employment Studies, Poverty Dynamics, Sustainable Livelihood Analysis. He has published on his research interests in national and international journals, presented scholarly papers at conferences across the world, published five standard textbooks and has many book chapter contributions.
Paul Bikundo
Kenya
Paul Bikundo
Kenya
Paul Bikundo is a Bachelor of Actuarial science graduate. Apart from the first degree, Paul has done a Certified Investment and Financial Analysis (CIFA) qualification from KASNEB Kenya in which he was the best student in the country in 2015. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Finance expected to graduate in June 2022.
Paul has previously worked as a graduate programs administrator. Currently working as a research coordinator. Part of his roles includes student-supervisor management, research clinic planning and facilitation, budgeting, and financial planning for the division.
Paul is a dedicated individual and passionate about his undertakings. He is an upcoming scholar who is dedicated to his studies and career.
In his free time, Paul enjoys reading a book, playing or watching football, and sometimes a movie. Apart from that, Paul participates in charity activities to help the less fortunate in society.
He was Principal Consultant to Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Employment, Labour and Productivity (Ogun State Office) on National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS)-based Employment Policy and a consultant on World Bank-Funded Study of Ibadan (Nigeria) Solid Wastes Management.
Events
Women entrepreneurs make significant contributions to economic growth, wealth creation, innovation and employment. Yet, their participation is constrained by structural impediments and biases – economic, legal, social and cultural, including within entrepreneurial ecosystems. These eco-systems, which include Entrepreneurship Education and Training (EET), have underperformed with respect to the inclusion of women and other underrepresented groups.
Virtual Roundtable: March 23 11:00 AM Eastern Time Building Entrepreneurial Ecosystems to Support Underserved Entrepreneurs
