The expectations are high for the finalists of the Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards 2007, a joint project by Cartier and the Women’s Forum, with the support of McKinsey & Company and INSEAD. Yesterday Thursday, the fourteen women entrepreneurs gathered to show their start-up projects in the Women’s Forum. There will be five winners of the Prize, one from each region (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America). The five winners will receive The Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards Trophy, US$ 20 000 each, coaching support for one year and media visibility. I could talk to some of the finalists about what they expected from the Award (which is to be announced tonight). All of them agrees that it is already great to be among the finalists.

Lucie Cissé, an entrepreneur from the Ivory Coast, said that it is already an honor to be there. If she wins the Prize for her project of a healthcare provider in the underprivileged region of Abobo, she thinks that it will help her develop the project and it will also be good for Africa. The Argentinian entrepreneurs Marisa Otamendi and Carola Pradas are also very excited to be finalists. They said that the Cartier Award helped them make their dream come true, a customer service consulting and outsourcing for e-businesses in Argentina. The Cartier Award helped them develop their idea, write their business plan and organize their work. They argue that their project can benefit women, as it will allow them to work from home. If she wins, Bettina Götzenberger, from Spain, will be happy to benefit from the consulting and coaching that come with the Prize.

Among the European women entrepreneurs, Jenny Carenco, who quit a job in a consulting firm to open her own business, a new generation of baby food jars and frozen baby food, thinks that the products and services that the finalist women entrepreneurs propose make a real sense. Besides, she believes that the credibility of the structure of Cartier’s Award will certainly help them obtain funding for their businesses. Katalin Berenyi, a French entrepreneur, remembered that there are not many women entrepreneurs in France. According to her, the level of the projects of the finalists is very high and they are all very interesting. Her business is an anti-fatigue cosmetics range based on traditional Korean herbal science. If she is one of the winners, she believes her company will obtain a great visibility. Antonia Sanin, who created a day-care center for children aged 3 to 6 in Colombia, considers that the Cartier Women’s Initiative has already given her a lot. It helped her formally write her idea and consolidate her working team.

Indeed, Freja Day, from Cartier International, explains that Cartier has been a sponsor of the Women’s Forum since its creation in 2005. She reminds that women are the driving force of the economy. They wanted to create something concrete for women, a long-term initiative that could help women open and develop their own businesses. Cartier has a long history (founded in 1847) and, as Freja says,”women are the heart of what we do”.

Posted by Camilla - October 12, 2007
filled in Session Focus |