- During the visit of the twelve young Talent Factory winners to Brussels, Finnova presented its projects in support of women entrepreneurs.
- Women4Tech, Girls4Tech, 100 Women Plus, WomenEquity and the Finnova-Technovation Girls Challenges act to encourage the participation of women and girls in careers and STEAM projects.
- These initiatives contribute significantly to global efforts to reduce the employment gap and promote equality in the labour market.
Brussels, 6 July 2023. At Finnova, we value talent and prioritise support for women. We are committed by example and have been recognised with the Woman Forward Equality Business award for having 50% women in positions of responsibility in the foundation.
As part of our commitment, we promote support for women entrepreneurs and promote projects such as Women4Tech, Girls4Tech, 100 Women Plus and WomenEquity. These projects are co-funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme and are supported by various partners.
During the visit to Brussels of the twelve young Talent Factory winners on 6 July, Ester Mbomio Lagar, Communications and Institutional Relations at Finnova Foundation, was able to present these initiatives and encourage young people to get involved in STEAM careers, as they will be highly demanded in the labour market and currently, only 1 in 6 STEAM specialists are women, according to Eurostat.
The Finnova Foundation also collaborates with Technovation Girls through a series of challenges, Finnova-Technovation Girls Challenges, linked to real projects of which Finnova is a partner and which are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations. These challenges were presented and it was reminded that they are open to the participation of young people of any gender, with the only condition that the groups are led by girls. It was also encouraged to participate in the, an initiative of 100 Women Plus that seeks to give visibility to and connect European and West African women entrepreneurs.
The visit, which included the participation of Pedro Martínez Ruano, Education Counsellor of the Spanish Embassies in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, served as a space to share life experiences and valuable comments on academic and professional projection. It was a meeting of exchange and celebration of young talent, recognising them as key players in the green and digital transition.
About Women4Tech
Women4Tech is the Finnova Foundation’s initiative to support innovation, disruptive projects and public-private partnerships for women. They support different projects such as Finnova-Technovation Girls Challenges to promote STEAM careers in young people or projects to promote female entrepreneurship. http://womenfortech.eu/en/start
About Girls4Tech
The Girls4Tech project is an initiative that seeks to promote local technological innovation led by girls between the ages of 8 and 18. It focuses on the teaching of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects that are a priority in education and for the future of the world of work, where technology and digitization play an increasingly important role.
About the 100Women Plus project
This project co-financed by the Erasmus + Program of the EU and led by Finnova, in collaboration with the Cabildo de Fuerteventura and the Fundadoras association, was born in an attempt to address the need for greater equality and promote international cooperation in terms of empowerment of the woman. 100 Women Plus has been designed to improve the channels of collaboration and dialogue, propose a series of learning activities, exchange of experiences and transfer of results that contribute to establishing new mechanisms for female participation, strengthening the ecosystem of women entrepreneurs in the participating countries. and create networks and generate alliances between institutions in Europe and Africa.
The activities of 100Women Plus
With a total budget of €60,000 and a duration of 10 months, various training and exchange activities will be carried out, including a program of online seminars on entrepreneurship where 200 students will be trained, the creation of a gallery with 30 cases of success that contribute to making initiatives of women entrepreneurs visible, a conference with talks and online debates on equality and participation of women and a final conference in Brussels.
The expected results of this project are the creation of a network of women and collaborating organizations promoting gender equality and female entrepreneurship, working on the creation of specific didactic content thanks to more than 40 hours of training and reinforced cooperation between entities African and European.
About WomenEquity
The WomenEquity project was born to raise awareness about the barriers in access to employment for women and improve their situation. The project, led by the Benaguasil City Council, has a budget of €137,435 and will be developed over 18 months. Focusing on three groups: young women looking for their first job, unemployed women over 55 and migrant women. The objective is to promote collaboration between municipalities to find solutions, raise awareness among citizens and offer tools for the labor inclusion of women. For such purposes, seven events will be held in different countries and an interactive good practice guide will be created.
About Founders Foundation
Fundadoras is an Association for the promotion of female entrepreneurship at the state level that has been operating since 2018. The objectives of Fundadoras are Adding the Ecosystem, Rewarding and Recognizing, Disseminating and Positioning.
About the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values program
The Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values program funds citizens’ engagement, equality for all and the implementation of EU rights and values. The program brings together the former Rights, Equality and Citizenship3 program and the former Europe for Citizens4 programme. Thus, it promotes exchanges between people from different countries, reinforces mutual understanding and tolerance, and provides an opportunity to broaden perspectives and develop a sense of European belonging and identity through town twinning and networking. The program follows a bottom-up approach while offering, in particular to city networks, the opportunity to focus on EU priorities.
About Finnova Foundation
Finnova is the non-profit Hispanic-Belgian foundation based in Brussels and Spain, which works for the promotion and development of innovation and entrepreneurship in the EU. Finnova’s experience leading communication activities and dissemination of European projects is combined with solid proven experience in the creation of companies and business support programs, such as accelerators, incubators and events, as well as its commitment to training and employability of the collective young.