Archive for the ‘Heim, Wynona’ Category

10,000 Women scholars with Professional Women's Forum members at Henkel

Written by: Wynona Heim, Program Manager, Thunderbird for Good

On Tuesday January 24^th, the Professional Women’s Forum of Henkel Consumer Goods Inc. hosted 28 women entrepreneurs from 10 countries in Asia and the Pacific for an afternoon business site visit, roundtable discussions on leadership, and a networking dinner at the Henkel facility in north Scottsdale.  The women are spending two weeks at Thunderbird’s campus in Glendale for an intensive business skills training course as part of the global Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative.

Cindy Demers, VP of Corporate Communications at Henkel, gave the ladies a short overview of Henkel’s global operations, primary brands, and an overview of what functions the Scottsdale location serves to the corporation.  This overview included Henkel’s Vision to be a global leader in brands and technologies, and how they act on that vision within the context of their organizational values:

1)      We put our customers at the center of what we do.

2)      We value, challenge and reward our people.

3)      We drive excellent sustainable financial performance.

4)      We are committed to leadership in sustainability.

5)      We build our future on our family business foundation.

To conclude the initial overview session, the ladies were given an overview of our host organization, the Professional Women’s forum at Henkel, including membership levels, activities, and the benefits of professional organizations.

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Article prepared through collaboration by Cynthia Braden (Tbird’03) (HTT), Kirby Hayes (USDA), and Rebecca Yagerman (USAID)

Afghan graduates of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women in Afghanistan meet with leaders of the Ghazni Province PRT team.

Seven Afghan graduates of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women at the American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) met with Human Terrain Team (HTT), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) members of the Ghazni PRT on November 30, 2011 in Kabul. The meeting, hosted by Pamela Rager (T-bird ‘99), Executive Director of 10,000 Women on the campus of the AUAF, focused on current and future economic opportunities for the graduates in Ghazni Province. Several of the women already have established businesses in Ghazni and Kabul with employee numbers ranging from a dozen to a thousand.

Current businesses include fruit processing, tailoring, wool processing, construction, sericulture, and yogurt processing. The entrepreneurs discussed future business opportunities and various ways the PRT could support their endeavors. New business interests included cardboard manufacturing and aquaculture. The women identified access to training, land, and infrastructure as common limiting factors to business development and/or growth. The meeting was an exciting first step toward enhancing these entrepreneurs’ activities in Ghazni province and further meetings have been planned. Most importantly, these seven women represent a fraction of the 300 Afghan graduates of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women and there are many more motivated entrepreneurs across the country working hard to enrich Afghanistan’s economy.

Written by: Shagufta Parveen, Owner of SUAYYA Enterprises – Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, Project Artemis Pakistan graduate, 2011

Edited by: Wynona Heim, Program Manager, Thunderbird for Good

Formal photo of Summit attendees

I was recently invited to attend the Istanbul Forum for Economic Cooperation between Turkey, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in Turkey on November 1^st.  Heads of state from all three countries were at the meeting, as well as the President of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Vice President and Secretary from the Pakistani Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

There were three of us ladies from Pakistan who were invited to attend: myself (Shagufta Parveen), Shah Rukh (both of us 10,000 Women graduates), and Saddaf.  We were pleased to meet four fellow businesswomen from Afghanistan who are graduates of our sister 10,000 Women program there: Fatima Akbari, her daughter Shahla, Andeisha Farid, and Malalai Jawad.

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Written by: Wynona Heim, Program Manager, Office of Thunderbird for Good

Eva Weigold-Schultz, Terry Neese, Wynona Heim, and Noa Meyer at the Tool Kit launch at Georgetown University

Afghan women play a vital role in growing the Afghan economy.  They are opening businesses in industries that range from traditional handicrafts to construction and consulting companies.  They are providing not only goods and services to their communities, but are creating jobs and generating income to ensure their families are well-fed and their children are given opportunities that they never had under the Taliban.  All of these efforts are having a positive effect on Afghanistan’s stability and development.  In 2010-11 Afghanistan’s GDP grew at an annual rate of 11%, compared to the global growth rate of 5% according to the IMF.  This growth will need to continue for the short term if long-term stability is to be reached, especially given the 40% unemployment which is surely contributing to instability now.

Afghan women are incredibly strong in spirit, believing in a brighter future for their children despite living in the most dangerous country in the world for women (www.trust.org Danger Poll, 2011).  The entrepreneurial spirit, courage, and sheer determination of these Afghan women are second to none, but often they lack the family support, basic education and training that will help them grow their businesses to their full potential and maintain sustainability over time.  The literacy rate among women in Afghanistan is estimated at around 13%, and 70-80% of Afghan females still face forced marriage (US Department of State data).

As part of the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council efforts, world-class business management training is offered to current and prospective women entrepreneurs through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Program, Project Artemis here at Thunderbird School of Global Management, and Peace Through Business at the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women.  These programs have directly influenced hundreds of women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan, but there are thousands more that we have yet to reach.

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Written by: Wynona Heim, Thunderbird for Good Program Manager for Afghanistan

After two weeks of business trainings, site visits to women owned businesses in Arizona, and meeting the mentors that will help these extraordinary Afghan businesswomen improve and expand their businesses, the entire group of 19 Artemis graduates, 2 Afghan coordinators, 2 Thunderbird for Good administrators, and 2 Academic Directors took off for a week of meetings, classes, and site visits on the east coast, hosted by the US/Afghan Women’s Council and funded by the Goldman Sachs Foundation.

The schedule was full, but filled with great meetings and valuable information, including classes on leadership and goal-setting taught by Georgetown University professors.  On Monday November 1st there was a meeting of the US/Afghan Women’s Council focused on Entrepreneurship and chaired by the US Ambassador at Large for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer.   The Artemis graduates emphasized a greater need for business training programs in Afghanistan – programs that could reach the underserved populations of the Provinces outside of Kabul especially.  After the committee meeting there was a networking event in the historic old Georgetown library with some wonderful supporters of Afghan women in attendance: Diane Furstenburg, Caroline Firestone, Dina Powell, Mariam Nawabi, and Doris Buffet, just to name a few!  I do know one thing, by the end of the evening; every attendee had at least one Project Artemis graduate’s business card in their pocket!

On Election Day the ladies had a luncheon with the American Chamber of Commerce, and the Friends of the American University of Afghanistan.  The group then went on to the Capital building for a special tour and a meeting with Robin Lerner, who staffs on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Mariana McGuire, who works with the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight.  The ladies greatly appreciated the willingness of these ladies to take time out of their busy schedules to meet with them, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the US Capital Building.  After the Capital, the group joined the Washington DC alumni chapter for 1^st Tuesday, Thunderbird style at One Washington Circle Hotel.

On Wednesday a very successful meeting was held between the Artemis graduates and leaders of financial services institutions that are working in Afghanistan.  The Artemis graduates were very interested in hearing about financing opportunities for their businesses and how those opportunities could best be accessed.  In addition, there were staff from international organizations that assist local artisans in finding export markets for their goods from Afghanistan.

In the afternoon, the ladies were privileged to be invited to the White House to attend a meeting hosted by the White House Council on Women and Girls, where such issues as the importance of women’s economic security, putting an end to corruption that hampers economic activity, and things that the US Government are doing to empower women and girls were all discussed.  The meeting was hosted by Tina Tchen from the White House Council on Women and Girls, and attended by Abigail Friedman, the Director for Afghanistan from the National Security Council, Avra Siegel with the National Economic Council, and Ginger Lew, Senior Counselor to the White House National Economic Council and the Small Business Administration, as well as all 19 Artemis graduates, Thunderbird faculty and staff, and 10,000 Women administrators from Goldman Sachs and the American University of Afghanistan.

After saying farewell to the first half of the group to journey home to Afghanistan, the rest of us stayed on for two more days of meetings – starting with a trip to New York to report in to the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program about the program, and to attend a luncheon hosted by the founder of the Daily Beast, Tina Brown.  On Friday, we all had a wonderful finish to the visit, attending a tea hosted at the Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington DC before going out to the airport to bid our new Afghan friends goodbye.

Inshallah, we will see them again, with successful businesses feeding an ever growing Afghan economy, creating jobs, and increasing peace through sustainable business.  Until then, we at Thunderbird for Good would like to thank the Project Artemis Class of 2010 for teaching us just as much, if not more, than we taught you!  Tashakor!

By Wynona Heim, Thunderbird for Good Program Manager- Afghanistan

Visiting the Starshine Academy, we were all reminded of why programs like Artemis are making a difference. Starshine teaches on a philosophy of Global Citizenship – very much like Thunderbird, but at the primary and secondary level. Students not only learn core subject matter, but also learn gardening, good citizenship and leadership skills.

At Starshine, each student must choose a foreign nation that they must learn about and be an “ambassador” to. We were all so delighted to meet two students who were Ambassadors for Afghanistan. We taught them to say Salaam (Hello) and Tashakor (thank you), and took our usual 100 pictures with them – they really lived up to their titles, helping with a tour of the school, taking pictures of and with the Artemis fellows, and handing out drinks – two very welcoming young gentlemen!

The ladies heard about Starsine’s new franchising plans, which the Starshine founders credited a previous Artemis class with inspiring them to do – “a gift to the world of education from the women of Afghanistan.” Needless to say, the Artemis fellows were honored and excited by this.

The visit was short, but so very sweet, and then we were back on the bus and headed for the greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce. At the Chamber, we heard about local business mentoring programs, and how business people continue to grow and improve with the help of others. Many wonderful pieces of advice were shared about business ownership, mentoring, and striving to improve yourself and your organization. One that seemed the most fitting for the Artemis fellows was: “Do one thing every day that scares you. This guarantees that you will learn something every day.”

Written by: Wynona Heim and Tamara Myatt

Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, Fatima Hakimzada currently works as Deputy Director of Demo Construction Company in which she is a primary shareholder, and is in her third year of law school.  As with so many businesswomen in Afghanistan today, she harbors dreams that take muscle to realize: schools for the country’s children, some too poor to do anything except beg for bread on the streets, destined for brief lives bereft of the most basic needs.   A natural leader in her community, Fatima has has just returned from participating in the Vital Voices regional conference in Asia, held September 14^th-16^th in New Delhi, India.
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By: Wynona Heim, Program Manager, Afghanistan, Thunderbird for Good

The second annual 10,000 Women Leadership Academy brought more than 100 partners from 20 countries worldwide together in Washington, DC from June 6th – 9th, 2010. The entire Thunderbird for Good team was in attendance to represent the 10,000 Women programs that Thunderbird partners with in Afghanistan and Peru.

The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women business training program has provided entrepreneurial training to 2,000 women with high potential businesses or concepts for businesses in 20 developing economies in the first two years of the initiative.

Former Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice addressed participants at a dinner held at the newly re-opened Smithsonian National Museum of American History, “On many occasions I’ve been asked, what’s the one thing you would do if you could wave a magic wand and make the world better? And I always come to one as central: I would empower women.”

We at Thunderbird for Good wholeheartedly agree! The significance of economically empowering women was evidenced by four 10,000 Women graduates who attended the conference as honored scholars from Brazil, Kenya, India, and our own graduate from the Afghan program, Masooma Habibi. Masooma spoke eloquently to the group. “Before I started 10,000 Women, I didn’t have a business, I just had a dream,” she said. “But 10,000 Women was like turning a switch. Everything changed. Now I have 22 employees.”

The academy was held over three days and included speaker sessions and interactive workshops that focused on the challenges partners faced in administering the initiative, as well as broader trends in empowering women in developing economies. Influential leaders in this area came together to speak to participants during the three day conference, including: Ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s issues Melanne Verveer, Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy, President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass, founder and CEO of Women for Women International Zainab Salbi, and more.

Thunderbird for Good and other program participants made maximum use of the opportunity to share best practices and insights gained from the first two years and 2,000 graduates of the initiative. However, we all agreed that the very best part of the Leadership Academy was the chance to finally put faces to names and get to know in person all of the colleagues that we had previously known primarily over phone and e-mail communications.

By Tamara Myatt, Senior Program Manager

10,000 Women Program, Kabul, Afghanistan

On May 6, 2010, fifty women graduated from the Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women project in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The graduation celebrated the end of a second successful year for the 10,000 Women training program in Afghanistan, and the continued success of the partnership between Thunderbird and the American University in Kabul.  In total, 104 Afghan woman entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs have been trained in the program since 2008, which is funded by Goldman Sachs, and utilizes teaching capacity at the AUAF and a curriculum designed by top faculty at Thunderbird.
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By Wynona Heim,  Thunderbird for Good Program Manager, Afghanistan

Masooma Habibi is an impressive young woman.  Born in an Afghan refugee camp in Iran, she lived most of her life outside of her home country.  In the few years since she has returned to Kabul, Afghanistan, she has not wasted any time making a mark.

She started Check Up Company, an electrical engineering business in Kabul, and learned both electrical engineering and business administration from the ground up.  Masooma is a 2009 graduate of the 10,000 Women program in Afghanistan sponsored by Goldman Sachs and run in partnership by Thunderbird and the American University of Afghanistan.   She was a star pupil in the program, always asking insightful questions and looking for new ways to drive her business forward.

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