With the focus on gender equality and the economic independence of entrepreneurial womenthe Association of Entrepreneurs of Mexico (ASEM) presented the Public-private agenda to improve the conditions in which women undertake and promote the development of their companies, an initiative that seeks to promote collaborative work between various actors, both individually and in the private and public sectors.
The study proposes specific actions for four areas of opportunity detected: lack of access to financing; lack of time availability to manage and grow the company; lower participation of women in high-impact STEAM sectors and as contractors of public institutions; and lack of training and support for business management.
“We know that entrepreneurship is essential as a tool of social mobility for women and is also a key step to change many other problems such as the gender gap in income and even different types of violence such as physical, labor and economic. For ASEM, any initiative that seeks to make Mexico a better country to undertake, do business, and strengthen a diverse and equitable society requires affirmative actions, which is why we present this agenda for freedom and making life decisions,” commented Juana Ramírez. , president of the ASEM Board of Directors.
A comprehensive proposal for women entrepreneurs
This document was created by the ASEM in conjunction with the Eugenio Garza Lagüera Entrepreneurship Institute of the Tec de Monterrey, with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, as a guide for people and public and private organizations to carry out actions that promote more equitable entrepreneurship conditions . For this reason, ASEM announced that it will seek rapprochement with the business sector, government institutions, and particularly with candidates for public office in the current campaign period, in order to promote the agenda.
“The agenda has an active and developing role, since it does not seek to be a mere document, but rather the beginning of a comprehensive proposal to promote a market economy where people, regardless of their gender, have the conditions to launch their creativity and its transformative proposals,” commented María José Salcedo Campos, Mexico Project Coordinator at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
For his part, Ulrick Noel, executive director of the Eugenio Garza Lagüera Entrepreneurship Institute at Tec de Monterrey, commented that “companies led by women have a positive impact on economic development and by seeking more equitable conditions for them, we are contributing to a a more inclusive, diverse society and where proposals for change go from being ideas to being actions. “We know that women entrepreneurs face big challenges, one of them access to financing. With this agenda we want to make the problems visible, but also the solutions.”
To build the agenda, practices at the national and international level were analyzed, and studies such as the X-ray of Entrepreneurship in Mexico 2023: Women's Editionas well as interviews conducted with representatives of prominent institutions that support women entrepreneurs and businesswomen in the country.
Actions contained in the agenda
The agenda contains 13 proposals that address four identified problems, through a chain of 33 specific actions and their indicators, which will allow the impact of each proposal to be established, measured and monitored.
- Promotion of the existence of at least one product for women business founders in private financial institutions and public programs for access to financing.
- Increase in investment funds and networks of 'angel investors' led by women.
- Linkage between entrepreneurs and existing financial programs and products with preferential conditions for their companies.
- Training and awareness to promote a more equitable distribution of domestic and care work.
- Implementation of media campaigns to promote the importance and social value of female entrepreneurship and financial independence.
- Adoption of digital tools and methodologies to improve business management times.
- Creation of business networking spaces focused on integrating companies founded by women in the STEAM sectors.
- Implementation of free or low-cost private incubation and acceleration programs to support female business founders.
- Creation of a mentoring network and hotlines for training and personalized support.
- Creation of public entrepreneurial education programs in basic and upper secondary education.
The Public-private agenda to improve the conditions in which women undertake and promote the development of their companies It can be consulted free of charge in the ASEM research section: asem.mx/emprendedoras. Among other novelties, the document also includes a mapping of institutions specialized in supporting female entrepreneurs, in order to provide resources and opportunities that contribute to the development of their companies.