Gender Mainstreaming: The Role Entrepreneurs Can Play and Why ...

INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE UNCTAD/WTO Page 5
Women’s Trade Mission Model
In 1997, the Government of Canada organized the first businesswomen’s trade mission to
the United States. This was developed by the collaborative efforts of the public sector
(government – the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Industry
Canada, Export Development Canada, Business Development Bank of Canada) and the
private sector (Royal Bank of Canada, General Motors Canada, IBM, Hodgson Russ law
firm) and NGO’s (the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada, the
Foundation of Canadian Women Entrepreneurs and the National Association of Women
Business Owners in the United States). This trade mission was brought about as a direct
result of ‘champions’ in both the private and public sector who recognized that the
participation of businesswomen in trade missions was dismally low. The government of
Canada assumed (incorrectly) that women were not interested in expanding internationally
or doing business internationally or that their businesses were too small. The reality was
that most women were never invited to participate on trade missions or new little if
anything about the opportunities of doing business with Canada’s greatest trading partner!
When the government actively made an effort to identify potential participants and sought
out the participation of women through a variety of contacts, associations, marketing and
referrals and the assistance of the private sector, they were overwhelmed. Hundreds of
women made enquiries, several hundred applied and finally, more than 100 Canadian
businesswomen participated in this groundbreaking event.
The public and private sector together with two NGO’s collaborated to ensure a highly
successful event. That trade mission, led by Canada’s then Minister for International
Trade, the Honourable Sergio Marchi and hosted by Canada’s then Ambassador to the
United States, His Excellency Raymond Chrétien, resulted in more than $30 million of joint
partnerships and new business signed during the mission. A high profile media campaign
was enacted and for the first time, women entrepreneurs engaged in roundtable
discussions directly with the Minister. Business matching was organized and training
workshops took place. The women involved had businesses which ranged from micro to
large. Individually they employed from one to several hundred people, but when
collectively these 100 women employed more than 8,000 people directly and 40,000
indirectly and were responsible for more than $400 million in revenue (and they all voted!)
At these figures, the Minister and the rest of the government and private sector began to
listen. This model has been copied many times since. The objectives from the outset
were not to exclude women from main stream trade missions but rather to do the following:
include women entrepreneurs in international trade; show that there are women interested
in expanding internationally; help educate women about doing business internationally in
an environment that they were comfortable in; increase the participation of women in
mainstream trade missions; and raise the overall profile of women entrepreneurs in
Canada. By all accounts this mission was a success. No one in Canada today says that
women entrepreneurs are not making a difference!
Conclusion and Final Tips
‣ Become aware of your community’s opportunities and protocol for inclusiveness.
‣ Communicate with other organizations and learn about their interests and work
towards building a coalition with them to achieve a greater visibility.
‣ Make the female voice one of solutions not of complaints; focus on and find
solutions that are responsive to real needs and be positive.