Women entrepreneurs take part in an exposure visit to a business in Siem Reap province. SHE
Pioneering social enterprise SHE is celebrating its tenth year of its mission to power women in business across Cambodia. Formerly known as SHE Investments, SHE has supported over 2,600 micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), 93 per cent of which are women-owned.
“In its first decade, SHE’s efforts have helped businesses scale, formalise and create more than 1,000 jobs,” explained a April 3 press release.
“SHE’s gender-focused, culturally tailored incubator and accelerator programmes have powered women entrepreneurs across sectors including agriculture, WASH, nutrition, clean energy, conservation and the garment industry. By offering training, mentoring, coaching, and financial support, participants have graduated with the confidence and skills to start and grow their own businesses,” it added.
The release also detailed how within six months of graduating from the enterprise’s programmes, business owners experience an average increase in income of more than $2,000.
According to SHE program director Keisha Gani, while women own around 69 per cent of businesses in Cambodia, most of them are micro-sized and informal. Just 26 per cent of small and medium enterprises are women-owned.
She believed that this disparity not only limits women’s economic empowerment but also hampers the country's economic growth.
“Women are incredible agents of change,” said Gani.
“When we invest in women, they reinvest in their families and communities, creating ripple effects that improve education, healthcare and employment opportunities,” she added.
The enterprise pointed out that women entrepreneurs in Cambodia often face significant barriers including limited access to finance, technology, business education opportunities and support services, along with the constraints of social norms.
“These challenges hinder their mobility and limit opportunities for training and networking, essential to growing their businesses,” explained the release.
“For the past decade, SHE has addressed these challenges by partnering with a wide variety of domestic and international partners,” it added.
SHE received certification as a Gender Smart Organisation in 2022 under the Gender Lens Incubation and Acceleration (GLIA) Standards, awarded by ygap and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
In January last year, SHE was integrated into International Development Enterprises (iDE), a global non-profit organisation with a mission to power entrepreneurs to end poverty. As a part of iDE, SHE operates as a gender-smart entrepreneurship programme and continues to deliver the same proven curricula and methodologies, while expanding its reach to other countries.
The SHE team has delivered training in how to scale their programme to new locations around the world, including Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique and Zambia.
“SHE was founded to address the gender inequity in the SME sector by supporting Cambodia's female entrepreneurs through gender-focused, Cambodian women led business training and mentorship,” explained SHE’s former co-founder, Celia Boyd.
“We are incredibly humbled to see the deep impact this has created over the past decade, and to see iDE taking this work forward,” she added.
Kevin Robbins, iDE Cambodia country director, also shared his pride in the organisation’s work.
“We are proud of SHE’s important work and its accomplishments over the past decade to empower women to lead, grow and shape the future of Cambodia’s economy. As SHE celebrates its 10th anniversary, we reflect on the incredible impact made over the last decade. Yet, the journey is far from over,” he said.
“There is still so much latent potential in the women entrepreneurs and family-run businesses of Cambodia. iDE and SHE are committed to help unlock this potential because we know that one entrepreneur can change their community and millions can change the world,” he added.
