A group of Salvadoran women gifted with different talents, knowledge and skills, are willing to share them with graduated entrepreneurs of our Women’s Empowerment Project (WEP). These women are opening a path in their businesses and are taking every opportunity to acquire more knowledge and skills which they can implement to then improve their businesses.
The idea was born when Salvadoran handbag designer Raquel Arana, our first volunteer mentor in the WEP, launched her purse collection: “Clan de las Virtudes” (The Clan of Virtues) last November, which is inspired by some of our entrepreneurs. Each purse reflects the story of one or more of them. (See the collection)
The name of the collection, was born with the idea that more women, through the story behind each purse, would get to know about the Women’s Project and be encouraged to join the Clan de las virtudes. As members of the Clan, the women can facilitate mentoring sessions and talks to share their knowledge, ideas, connections, and experiences with the participants of the Women’s Project. The launching of this new collection was a total success and, as expected, many people fell in love with the purses, the entrepreneurs, and their stories.
Since then, we have hosted two informative meetings. In the first one, we had the privilege of meeting the a group of talented women who decided to join the Clan. They are all successful women eager to create a bond of friendship and companionship with the entrepreneurs. During the meeting, the entrepreneurs and volunteers decided that each member of the Clan will work hand in hand with an entrepreneur to improve one or several aspects of their businesses. This serves as a way to complement the entrepreneurs’ needs with the mentors’ skills.
During the second meeting, the Clan and the entrepreneurs were eager to get to know each other. It was clear that the mentors were all there to learn, one said: “We do not have superpowers.” After meeting and listening to one another, each pair made simple, but very important commitments such as “Let’s try our best in everything we do.”The journey of the Clan de las Virtudes is just beginning. Little by little we will share more about the adventure, the efforts, and experiences of each mentor and entrepreneur. We are so eager to see the positive impact where women empower women!
