Concordia crafts a family space for such youth daily where they receive the support they need and deserve.
NESsT focuses on improving economic autonomy because it improves community autonomy. As much as "Workforce Diversity and Inclusion" is used to solve this problem, it will not. We must pursue Workforce Equity and Justice.
Meet Victor. Victor is a coppersmith in the Romanian village of Brateiu. There used to be 200 Roma coppersmiths in his village. Now there are only six left. He says he’s proud he can continue to practice the craft of his ancestors and make a living doing so.
NESsT's portfolio director for the Andean Region offers three top tips for social entrepreneurs: (1) Look Deep, (2) Seek Feedback and (3) Test, Test, Test.
In the face of structural labor market challenges, the founders of Próxima Servicios sought to create solutions that can reduce the inequality of opportunity rather than just the inequality of income. Eduardo Castillo, CEO of Próxima Servicios, explained that “part of the problem is that workers can’t access quality careers that have growth opportunities; if you have worked 15 years in a multinational company in cleaning, that experience will only lead to the next job in cleaning.”
Many traditional jobs are morphing into technical positions or disappearing altogether. A report by the World Economic Forum predicted that 97 million new tech-related jobs may emerge while 85 million non-tech career opportunities may be displaced by 2025.
Though technological advancements have improved the standard of living for many communities around the world, the tech job growth has exacerbated employment inequalities and widened gender wage gaps. In Poland, only 1.8% of women are trained in programming, and the average ratio of men to women on a tech team is three to one.
Supporting women to enter the tech workforce
NESsT Portfolio Future Collars launched the Woman Update campaign to make technical education and career guidance accessible to women of all ages and professional backgrounds. Woman Update’s online platform offers free webinars for women who are navigating the tech job market, providing guidance on acquiring new digital skills and building confidence.
“Women in Poland make up only less than 15% of employees in the IT industry — there is only one woman in every one hundred IT professionals. Moreover, many women are working in jobs that are threatened by automation, especially in administration, accounting, and client services. Through our events and campaigns, we prove that these statistics are not a barrier, but our motivation for change. This year we sought to inspire the participants of Women in IT Career Day to use their potential to consciously and ambitiously build their careers in IT.” said Joanna Pruszyńska-Witkowska, Co-Founder and VP of Future Collars.
In December, more than 1,700+ women joined the third Career Summit for Women in IT – an online event created by Future Collars and supported by NESsT as part of the Woman Update initiative. The free conference offered participants 28 different career counseling workshops, panel discussions with stories shared by experienced women leaders working in tech, in addition to one-on-one recruiting sessions with more than 70 employers, mentors, and speakers.
“My conversations with women leaders who are working in tech were very inspiring. I look forward to the next initiative in this format,” shared a participant.
Filip Wadowski (right) joining the virtual conference as a panelist.
“ It was very empowering to see how Future Collars ramped up its informational and educational support for women during the pandemic, helping more women to recover from the gendered impact of the crisis and fill positions in the booming tech industry. We’re also thrilled to see that the campaign received the support of many companies and organizations that are redefining traditional tech career paths,” said Filip Wadowski, NESsT Poland Country Director.
All photos courtesy of Future Collars
Future Collars is committed to diversifying the tech workforce in Poland by providing technical training and wraparound services to ensure that women, especially parents, stand out during the recruiting process and thrive in their roles long after hiring. The Polish enterprise is part of NESsT Empowers, a program that seeks to ensure equal access to the future of work for underrepresented communities, such as women, orphaned youth, and low-income communities.
To connect women to decent employment in well-paid sectors, while helping employers to become more gender inclusive, NESsT partnered with portfolio company Mamo Pracuj to create Talenti - a job-searching platform tailored to the employment needs of women.
On her ten mile walk from Henley to Reading, Claire Wilkinson, NESsT UK Board Member, reflects on the importance of supporting social enterprises to weather the adversity and inequalities brought on by the global challenge. She shares her insights on the transformative nature of social entrepreneurship in empowering disadvantaged communities and encourages donations to NESsT.
In Latin America, while the participation of women in the labor market increased in recent years, women are still overrepresented in low-income or non-remunerated household work. Two social enterprises in the NESsT - IKEA Social Entrepreneurship Latin America Accelerator run training programs designed to help women land salaried employment, freelancing opportunities, and micro-entrepreneurship -- the choice is theirs!
As impact first investors, we have a responsibility to be more intentional in our investments and recognize how gender inclusion creates the comprehensive approach that is needed given the urgency of these issues. NESsT strives to achieve gender equality within its internal operations and encourages its portfolio companies to strive for gender parity within their operations.
Gender Lens Investing is an effective strategy to alleviate poverty and reduce gender inequality. Existing gendered inequalities such as lower labor force participation and lower wages, greater unpaid care responsibilities, limited access to resources and education contribute to a gendered poverty penalty that accounts for about 5 million more women living in extreme poverty across the world.
As an impact lender, we view our business assistance as having as much of an impact on these businesses as our capital. By this summer, NESsT’s Business Assistance Facility will have provided advisory services to 20 businesses in South America. Our services focus on two main areas: financial management and social impact measurement.
