Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

"When we provide education to these women, we don’t just help one person; we help a family, we help a community, and we contribute to economic development." Here’s the hard truth: globally, women are 40% less likely than men to participate in the labour market – a gap most prevalent in low and middle-income countries. Taking on this mammoth challenge is Cherie Blair CBE (Cherie Booth K.C.), whose organisation, The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, is dedicated to eliminating barriers to entrepreneurship for women worldwide. At Davos 2025 for the Finnish Flow roundtables, Blair spoke with Mia AI co-founder and CEO Janna Salokangas, exploring how emerging technologies and AI have the power to transform economic opportunities for women in the global workforce. Discover how the foundation is transforming the lives of 300,000 women entrepreneurs worldwide: https://lnkd.in/e6ig-tHu #empowerment #womensempowerment #internationalwomensday #IWD25

📢 JUST RELEASED: Leading up to #InternationalWomensDay, we are delighted to announce 🆕 research on the experiences of women entrepreneurs & insights into how we can remove the barriers that hold women back that we published with Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and Intuit ➡️ https://lnkd.in/emDuttkG Key findings: 🔍 Online GBV is a major challenge for women entrepreneurs. 57% of women report having personally experienced at least one form of GBV over social media, and 16% of women report safety and security concerns as a key barrier to accessing mobile internet. 🔍 Privacy and safety concerns are major factors shaping women’s online and offline business journeys. More than one in five respondents fear potential harassment from male customers, and 77% take proactive safety measures to protect themselves. 🔍 Despite increased sales and profitability for 59% of women entrepreneurs in 2024, a staggering 78% say lack of access to finance is their biggest challenge. High borrowing costs, strict collateral requirements, and financial literacy gaps stand in their way. #AccelerateAction #WomenBizLaw

As a trustee at Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, I am rich with #pride when the Foundation releases yet another piece of #groundbreaking #research. This one, in partnership with Intuit and The World Bank, explores why women entrepreneurs *still* face systematic disadvantages in #accessing #capital, #growing #networks, and participating in the #digitaleconomy. And spoiler alert-- it's not a question of scale: Women are among the owners of 47% of businesses in #LAC, 44% in East Asia and the Pacific, and 30% in #SSA. In emerging economies, #SMEs contribute 40% of #GDP! Read the report and share it with those who are in a position to #makechange and celebrate the partnership of CBFW, Intuit and the Bank. (Thinking of allies and champions like Doone Roisin, Katelyn Donnelly, Thomas Ranese, Alan Golding, Monica Brand Engel and Luis Guardia.) https://lnkd.in/e9b6PMrM

Newly launched today, for #InternationalWomensDay, our latest major report on the experiences of women entrepreneurs in low and middle income countries and how digital technology shapes their business journeys and success. Producing this report, I find it striking that it not only shines a light on the tremendous challenges that women entrepreneurs continue to face when it comes to inclusion in the digital economy, such as online gender-based violence (thrown into sharp relief by certain social media companies' recent decisions to roll back many user protections) and poor connectivity, but also their incredible drive and persistence in the face of such challenges. To share my favourite line in the report, "while technology opens doors, structural inequalities continue to determine who gets to walk through". I would hope, with this report, that we can illustrate to tech and finance companies, governments, multilaterals and our fellow NGOs alike that not only is it unacceptable for a woman to go to work in fear of violence, but that enormous potential stands to be released by removing such barriers and enabling women and their businesses to thrive. Huge thanks to our researchers and partners, particularly Dr. Ammar A. Malik, Layane Alhorr, Ahmed Javed, Nabeeha Naz, Noor Un Nisa, Sarah Hilmer, MBA, Rob Burlison, Tea Trumbic, Emilia Galiano and Natália Mazoni, but the hugest thanks of course go to the thousands of women who took the time to share their experiences and opinions with us. #IWD #GBV #TFGBV #VAWG

Today we launch ground-breaking new research on the experiences and challenges of women entrepreneurs low and middle income countries, ‘Empowered or Undermined? Women Entrepreneurs and the Digital Economy’, in partnership with Intuit and with The World Bank's Women, Business and the Law project. Read here: https://lnkd.in/gTAbrDVu Released for International Women’s Day, our report particularly focuses on the role of technology in women’s businesses, examining how online gender-based violence (GBV) shapes women’s behaviour and digital inclusion, how women use digital tools like social media, AI, e-commerce and Mobile Money, and digital technology's broader implications for their businesses. Key findings include: 🔍 Although 92% of respondents own a personal smartphone, 45% do not have regular internet access. 🔍 Social media is a vital tool for women's businesses—88% of women use WhatsApp and 74% use Facebook for business—yet e-commerce adoption remains low, with only 31% using such platforms for business. 🔍 Women entrepreneurs without smartphones are 5.5 times less likely to use social media for business and 3.75 times less likely to have a bank account or mobile money account. 🔍 Online GBV is a major challenge for women entrepreneurs. 57% of women report having personally experienced at least one form of GBV over social media, and 16% of women report safety and security concerns as a key barrier to accessing mobile internet. 🔍 Privacy and safety concerns are major factors shaping women’s online and offline business journeys. More than one in five respondents fear potential harassment from male customers, and 77% take proactive safety measures to protect themselves. 🔍 Women entrepreneurs are far more likely to use digital payments with male customers than female, illustrating a desire to minimise physical interactions with male customers. 🔍 38% of women currently use AI – however just over one-fifth feel either underprepared or completely unprepared for the wave of new business technologies. 🔍 Over half of women request skills and/or training support to tackle the challenges they face, particularly in digital marketing and AI. We call for urgent action from global stakeholders to dismantle these barriers and create a more inclusive and thriving business environment for women entrepreneurs in 2025 and beyond. Read and download the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gTAbrDVu #AccelerateAction #IWD25 #InternationalWomensDay #GBV #DigitalTechnology

This #WomensHistoryMonth, join us in celebrating women entrepreneurs around the world who are overcoming the gendered barriers that hold them back and leading the way for future generations of successful business women. You can read inspiring stories from the women entrepreneurs we work with on our website: https://lnkd.in/e46zbccw #WomenEntrepreneurs #WomeninBusiness #herstory

Work for Cherie Blair Foundation for Women

As a mentor alum of the Mentoring Women in Business Programme, I couldn’t agree more with Caroline’s reflections. The journey is not just about sharing knowledge but also about mutual learning, empowerment, and seeing the world through a new lens. For anyone considering mentoring, I highly recommend it. It’s an incredible opportunity to support women entrepreneurs while growing your own skills. Check out Caroline’s inspiring story.

"I knew that exporting would require a lot of logistics, but I was determined to bring my overseas customers the taste of home they were longing for." Uduak Odungide's business, udyfoods, had a strong presence in Nigeria, with many customers regularly purchasing her spices, oils, and other Nigerian food products. When some of her loyal customers dropped off, Uduak reached out to check in on them. She discovered that many had left Nigeria and moved to the UK, where there's a huge Nigerian diaspora. They said they missed buying from her, as they couldn't find the same quality of Nigerian products abroad. Using the skills she gained from our #HerVenture app, Uduak devised a plan to expand her market reach and bring the comforts of home to Nigerians in the UK! Read her story: https://lnkd.in/ed7DmbGH Thank you ExxonMobil Giving for making stories like this possible. #WomenEntrepreneurs #AccessingMarkets #Entrepreneurship

My personal journey of taking part in the Mentoring Women in Business programme by the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women. This article highlights how the programme supports women entrepreneurs from low-and middle-income countries worldwide and also the mentors themselves. It offers employees a unique opportunity to develop leadership skills, expand their global knowledge and cross-cultural appreciation and drive meaningful impact. Having been an entrepreneur myself, I know first hand the challenges of building and scaling a business as a women. That is why I strongly encourage corporates and institutions to integrate the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women’s Mentoring Women in Business Programme into their employee engagement, Sustainable Development Goals, gender lens, DEI, ESG, corporate responsibility and business growth strategies. If your organisation is looking for a tangible way to empower women, strengthen teams, and contribute to global impact please contact me for more information.  #MentoringWomen #Leadership #Impact #Diversity #Sustainability