FedEx teams with nonprofit to empower women in Latin America
FedEx Express has formed an alliance with a Hilary Clinton’s international nonprofit mentoring foundation Vital Voices Global Partnership, aiming to empower women in Latin American business. The new alliance is dubbed FedEx & Vital Voices Building the Future: Educating Women, Harnessing Potential. It seeks to equip women with the technical skills required to improve their business activities.
FedEx said the alliance highlighted the important role private businesses can play in supporting women’s economic development in the region.
The Memphis-based integrator commissioned a market research poll last year that said women entrepreneurs and business leaders in Mexico and Brazil felt the need for more training in areas like business management, innovation and communication technologies.
Under its partnership with Vital Voices, FedEx will provide a series of seminars through the region on business topics, as well as special sessions with experts for select business leaders to help them grow their businesses.
Juan N Cento, the FedEx Expres president in the Latin American and Caribbean Division, said providing businesswomen in the region with access to education and business resources was essential.
“Our alliance with Vital Voices helps us reach this specific demographic as part of a strategic decision to accelerate the integration of female business leaders into the global economy,” he said.
A national survey in Mexico suggested last year that the number of women running businesses in Mexico grew by 38.9% in 2011. In Brazil, estimates suggest the proportion of the female work force that own their own businesses will rise from 24% in 2000 to 42% by 2020.
“Working with FedEx Express is a perfect complement to our mission to empower women entrepreneurs in the region,” said Alse Nelson, president and CEO of Vital Voices, the Washington DC-based organisation founded by Hilary Clinton in 1997.
“This alliance will expand access to education and needs-based training for members of the Latin America and Caribbean Businesswomen’s Network, enhancing their ability to lead their companies and communities forward.”
