Women Entrepreneurs Global Ecosystem

Vicki Saunders is an entrepreneur, award-winning mentor and leading advocate for entrepreneurship as a way of creating positive transformation in the world. She is the Founder of SheEO and #radicalgenerosity, a global initiative designed to disrupt how we support, finance and celebrate female entrepreneurs. Applying the SheEO model, Vicki has mobilized a global network of innovators, political leaders, business executives and thought-leaders in the gender-lens investing space that has to date has funded 68 women-led ventures with products and services focused on tackling the most challenging problems we face in the world.

Vicki’s extensive experience as a social and tech entrepreneur in Europe, Silicon Valley and Canada has given her deep insight into the challenges facing women entrepreneurs and systemic injustices that create barriers for those who are traditionally left behind.

Discriminatory, implicit, and unconscious biases that limit women entrepreneurs are embedded in our current structures. For example, while the global total entrepreneurial activity (TEA) rate for women is 10.2%, about three-quarters of that for men, women receive only 2.2% of venture funding. 

To remedy this, I propose a project based on SheEO’s proven ecosystem-based model that engages women to be funders, customers, advisors and/or influencers (Activators) who support women entrepreneurs (Ventures)within their community. Built to scale by aggregating local capital, crowd-based democratic decision-making, crowd-sourced support and technology-enabled infrastructure, SheEO is poised to replicate the model in dozens of countries in the coming years.

In addition to being revenue-generating and having export potential, these Ventures are creating a better world through a business model, product and/or their service that is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the World’s To-Do List.

Traditional economic and entrepreneurial models, products and services were not designed with gender, diversity and inclusion in mind. Half the world's population who identify as a woman are unable to access capital (women receive only 2.2% of venture funding) and resources (female entrepreneurs say they need access to networks (21%) and better access to education and training (19%) to take their innovations to market. This global issue impacts approximately 231 million women worldwide. A frequent disregard for environmental sustainability and a winner-take-all mentality that results in income inequality further exacerbates the problem.

The SheEO model counters this by identifying and supporting businesses models, products and services created by women that are designed to  solve the major challenges faced on the planet.  Flexible work innovations, social hiring models, and zero waste design are standard practices in SheEO Ventures.

SheEO is designed to be rooted in each country (local capital and resources supporting local Ventures). The model also helps scale these social innovations by leveraging the global connections of Activators/Ventures in all countries in SheEO’s ecosystem.

Founded in 2015, SheEO now operates in five countries and has received over 750 requests from over 70 countries to replicate the model.

SheEO is a global initiative that transforms systems by discovering, investing in, and supporting a diverse range of women entrepreneurs whose businesses address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. What we call the World’s To-Do List.  

We bring together hundreds of radically generous women (Activators ) who contribute $1100 each year. The money is pooled in a fund then loaned out as a five-year,  0%-interest loan to women-led Ventures whom the Activators select. As the money is paid back into the fund, it's loaned out again to support additional women-led Ventures each year.

The model is driven by local Activators who self-organize, self-govern, and engage their peers to join the community. Our unique ecosystem-based approach results in a distributed global network that supports Activators and Ventures in their local communities while helping Ventures scale globally through access to SheEO resources (customers and buying power, advice, connections, influence, education, technology). 

Inbound interest in the model is significant, with 70+ regions reaching out to replicate the model. Its global, distributed network design makes the model highly scalable. We ‘follow the energy” at SheEO, meaning we go to regions where local women are reaching out to be the local organizers.

SheEO serves two primary audiences: women seeking to align their values with the products, services and institutions they engage with (Activators); and women-entrepreneurs whose  businesses are dedicated to making a better world with their business model, product or service (Ventures). 

Both groups represent a diverse audience made up of cis or trans women, non-binary, gender-fluid or gender non-conforming people from all cultural backgrounds.

We are at a critical inflection point as people seek more inclusive social and economic models focused on wellbeing, innovative solutions for our climate emergency, and transformative models to reduce inequality. 

SheEO addresses this by engaging the change agent in every Activator, providing  a way to leverage her networks, buying power, expertise and influence in supporting women innovators focused on making the world a better place. 

Women who join our community are transformed by the experience and begin to realize the impact they can have, together, to transform systems.

SheEO addresses the needs of both these groups by supporting them at the local level with resources, technical infrastructure and best-practice guidelines. SheEO also supports them on a global scale by providing networks, expertise and a global market for Venture’s products.

To qualify as a SheEO Venture, women-entrepreneurs must have a business model, product or service designed to address the most pressing problems in our world, typically those defined by the United Nations Sustainable Development goals. SheEO brings awareness to these issues by engaging women from around the world and enabling them to find a solution using their unique skills, experiences, networks and points of view.

SheEO’s model is an entry point into a larger systems change discussion that includes transforming how women use their money to create change in the world and discover new approaches to doing business.

In 1989, when the Berlin wall came down, Vicki Saunders was living in Prague. This afforded her a unique opportunity to witness a society as it dreamt of a future that could be entirely of its own making. The experience proved transformative, marking the beginning of a life-long quest to create new systems and conditions allowing people to innovate and reach their potential. 

In the ensuing years, Vicki designed initiatives, companies and organizations focused on personal and systemstemic transformation. Working within the constraints of traditional economic and entrepreneurial models not designed for women or by women, she experienced the inequity of funding, structural biases, and the negative impact on society of a“go-big-or-go-home” business narrative.

This led her to fundamentally reimagine a way of doing business by organizing resources for the benefit of all, resulting in her founding SheEO. SheEO combines micro-finance, indigenous practices, community-based development, personal transformation, and a commitment to making the world a better place.

Sharing her vision with other women, Vicki captured the imagination of a senior executive at the Bank of Montreal who funded the first two years of operation with unrestricted capital, allowing for experimentation and the freedom SheEO needed to follow the energy.

Gross inequities exist in current business and economic models with regards to women. In 

2018, for example, U.S. female-founded startups received just 2.2% of venture capital investment. In 2017, all-women teams received just $1.9 billion, or 2.2%, of the $85 billion total dollar amount invested by venture capitalists while all-male teams received approximately $66.9 billion or roughly 79%. This happens despite the fact that women entrepreneurs outperform their male counterparts on several measures including revenue generation, job creation, and business performance and growth.

It’s not just women entrepreneurs who have the potential to move the needle when it comes to economic growth; female consumers do as well. Women make 85% of purchasing decisions and represent the world’s largest emerging market, estimated to be twice the size of India and China combined. And when it comes to investing their money, 84% of women compared to 67% of men indicate they are interested in  “sustainable” investing that targets not just financial returns. 

If we are to achieve inclusive economic growth that fairly distributes economic value, we must look to leading-edge solutions that recognize, support and celebrate innovative women entrepreneurs, the women who fund them, and all those they serve.

SheEO has a proven, five-year track record when it comes to  delivering programming and establishing local and global networks of Activators and Ventures who are committed to sustainable and inclusive business practices.

5,500 Activators in Canada, UK, NZ, US, and Australia have funded 68 Ventures. Ventures have:

• Achieved triple-digit revenue growth

• Created, on average, three jobs each per year

• Maintained a 95% loan payback rate

• 50+% of the Ventures are now exporting 

• 70% have raised follow-on capital averaging $1M per Venture

Our methodology, combined with our technology strategy gives Activators and Ventures quick and easy access to resources, education, and women who can support them in both local and global markets. Examples include:

• Venture to Venture: Farm-from-a-Box (USA) is working with Nada Grocery (CDN) on B2B business planning

• Activator to Venture: Montreal-based (CDN) Activators provided follow-on-funding to Ananda Devices (CDN)

• Global Indigenous Activator Leadership: Moira Were (NZL) integrating Indigenous community practices (Global)

• Activator to Government: Joy Anderson (USA) advising the CDN government (CDN) on Gender Lens Investing

• Activator to Corporations: Suzanne Biegel (UK) advising large companies on Gender Lens Investing(USA)

• Activator to Activator: Denise Hearn (USA) recently delivered an all-Activator webinar (Global)

Finally, because SheEO is rooted in relationships and works with a highly diverse community (race, sector, age, sexual orientation), we offer a highly inclusive community. We practice economic reconciliation with indigenous peoples in each country in which we operate and select founders based on their cultural diversity.

As the global economy has shut down due to the COVID-19 health emergency, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have been particularly hard hit. Because of the nature of the SheEO model however, we have been able to continue supporting our women-led Ventures with several initiatives:

Strategically Mobilize and  Convene the SheEO Ecosystem By March 16th, women in the SheEO network were loaning each other money, coming up with innovative methods that allowed our Ventures to not lay off staff, and becoming each other’s customers.

Assisting Women-led SMEs Stabilize and support Ventures, and in particular, Indigenous women entrepreneurs globally,  through mentorship, coaching and business support. All capital is being triaged to those with the highest need and deployment is carefully monitored and tracked. 

Keep Influencers Active and Engaged Curate positive stories about how our community is supporting one another and build a concrete ‘get-to-action’ communications strategy. 

Facilitate Community “Ask/Gives”’ As COVID-19 shapes and shifts priorities on a daily basis, we recognize there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. “Asks/Gives”, a component of the SheEO model that serves as a defacto clearinghouse, allowing community members to ask for or give assistance, has allowed us to support our SMEs seamlessly during this time.

The SheEO story is rooted in the way we discover, fund, and support women, on their own terms, who have new mindsets, new models and new solutions for a better world. We lead by believing in their vision, rather than trying to “fix” them. An example is SheEO Venture BE, inventor of the Alinker walking bike.

BE possessed a radically different perspective on wellness, health, and different abilities. Prior to becoming part of the SheEO ecosystem, BE was unable to gain support or funding for her innovative walking bike that challenges society’s assumptions about disability. Traditional funders didn’t value her vision and kept telling her to design her bike “the way it’s supposed to be done.” 

Vicki Saunders, SheEO Founder who had spent a lifetime creating innovative programs, companies and initiatives that were often the exact opposite of how the world typically worked, saw the uniqueness in BE  and stepped in to encourage that uniqueness.,creating a protective space for BE to fully realize her brilliance. Because of SheEO’s focus on creating space for people to create on their own terms, BE, and her Alinker walking bike, have dramatically improved the lives of hundreds of people who face mobility challenges.

Radical Generosity

At the heart of the SheEO model are Activators who gift funds to create 0%-interest loans to women entrepreneurs making the world a better place through their business model, product or service. As loans are paid back, they are reinvested in additional women-led Ventures, creating a Perpetual Fund.

Non-traditional funders

Our Activators represent  all ages, stages, cultures and experiences. They are corporate executives, successful entrepreneurs, emerging women leaders, students, mothers, grandmothers, daughters ranging in age from 11 to 95 from around the world who activate their money, time, skills, expertise, connections, buying power, and influence.

A new model for supporting female innovators

We believe in a new model to support female innovators. Rather than a “winner-take-all” mindset, for example, SheEO puts money in perpetual flow, benefitting all of humanity, now and for generations to  come. Our Venture application process is straightforward, void of pitch decks and jargon. Ventures are selected based on innovation-potential rather than profit-potential.

Local/Global Approach

SheEO’s distributed model enables women to self-organize, leverage local capital and support women entrepreneurs in their own communities. However, women anywhere in the SheEO ecosystem worldwide can ask for and give support to any member, anywhere, helping to remove barriers to global markets. 

Cutting-Edge Technologies

Our novel use of technology allows us to triage needs, track impact, and get data into the hands of those who need it, when they need it and share learnings, methods and processes with like-minded organizations and institutions.

From a systems perspective, SheEO has adopted the Ecological Systems model as proposed by Uri Bronbrenner. 

The illustration summarises the following relationship between the self and the multiple systems that women with buying power and/or a women entrepreneur:

• The Entrepreneurs: access to mentors & coaches/safe spaces to meet & learn/increase self-confidence

• The Entrepreneur’s venture: gender-friendly financing products/resources & tools to grow & export/new customers & markets

• Institutions (e.g. accelerators & funders): re-frame how to engage with diversity & inclusion lens, engage new cohorts of leaders/new language & support systems

• Enabling policies for women-entrepreneurs: Tools, resources & funding/events & networks/engagement opportunities

• The activators (the individual): Ask/give, online & in-person networking opportunities/meaningful participation (e.g. venture voting)

• The activator (at home/work): negotiation/purchasing power/equal representation at work/values alignment

• Institutions (e.g. pension funds): women-friendly products/services/mobilise additional resources/demand that institutions include externalities in their products/services

• Policies for a better world: address systemic inequalities/advocate for fairer laws/engage policymakers

SheEO’s model is based upon establishing deep relationships within the network of activators and ventures. Establishing trust in an era where many models are transactional takes an enormous amount of time and energy.

SheEO has demonstrated that incorporating trust building at the earliest stages of our engagement efforts is critical to the success of the model. 

For instance, moments after a new activator joins the community, they receive a personalised welcome email and invitation to a one-hour ‘Welcome Call’. This zoom call is hosted by knowledgeable SheEO community members. Each call is intimate (usually 10 people) but incredibly important for providing a delightful first encounter to the power of the network.

“I significantly reduced the cost of goods and services through an introduction to a new manufacturer with our network of radically generous women” - Toni Desrosiers, Abeego

At present, SheEO currently serves:

• Active countries = 5 (CAN, USA, NZD, USA, UK)
• Activators = 5,500 (CAN = 2,500, USA = 1,500, NZD = 800, AUS = 600, UK = 100)
• Funded ventures = 68 (CAN = 30, USA = 18, NZD =10, AUS = 10, UK = TBC)
• Perpetual fund = $5.25 M (CAN = $3M, USA $1M, NZD = $750k, AUS = $500k, UK = TBC)

Prior to COVID-19, SheEO had received more than 725 requests from over 70 countries to bring the model abroad. SheEO “follows the energy” to where local Activators and Ventures express interest and demonstrate willingness to co-create/replicate the SheEO model in their community. When resources and interest reveals itself, SheEO is ready to support the launch in a new country.

Given the realities of COVID-19, SheEO is reluctant to commit to future numbers at this time. With suitable interest and funding, SheEO has built some scenarios on how it might scale. Please see slides 23 to 26 about our global expansion plan which includes our activities, outcomes and impact statements:

SheEO remains committed to our pre-COVID model and strategy while retooling for post-COVID realities.

• Horizon 1 - Apr 2020 to Oct 2020 = Strategically respond to immediate needs

• Horizon 2 - Oct 2020 to Mar 2021 = Plan for post-COVID reboot and recovery

• Horizon 3 - Mar 2021 & Beyond = Rebuild for a more resilient society and economy

While not committing to numbers at this time, SheEO is committed to the following approach: 

Assist Women-led SMEs Stabilize and support SheEO Ventures working on the World’s To-Do list. Capital will be triaged, monitored and tracked to those with the highest need, especially Indigenous women entrepreneurs globally.

Mobilize and Strategically Convene Ecosystem Use existing communications and technology infrastructure to identify financial and nonfinancial assets in the ecosystem, and ensure timely and effective deployment to the people and organizations that need it most. 

Keep Influencers Active and Engaged  SheEO has started to curate positive stories about how our community is supporting one another and is building a concrete “get-to-action” communications strategy. 

Facilitate community “Ask/Gives’’. As COVID-19 shapes and shifts priorities on a daily basis, we recognize there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. We are keeping the pulse of the network and community while enabling ecosystem members globally to ask for assistance and/or respond to or offer assistance as needed. 

Share Knowledge, Platform & Infrastructure. As all the items above rely on our existing knowledge, technical skills and IT platform, SheEO will share our methods and processes with like-minded organizations and institutions.

Overcoming Deeply Entrenched Mindsets Despite there being more than 250 million women around the world who are entrepreneurs with an additional 153 million women operating an established business, our economic models, as stated above, are entrenched in a mindset that disproportionately favors men and has contributed to income inequality and the destabilizing fallout that brings. In order to support female entrepreneurs, and in particular, those who are focused on creating a better world through their work, SheEO needs to overcome the status quo with a new model that benefits all, rather than just the few.

Expanding Our Activator Network SheEO has $5.5 million under management through our first financial product, the Perpetual Fund. It is the source of the 0% interest, unrestricted loans provided to SheEO Ventures come from the radically generous women (Activators) who invest in the fund, without expectation of any financial benefit. Given SheEO’s broader vision to support 100,000 Ventures with $1 billion in capital, and aggregate the power of one million women in relationship with one another within the decade, ensuring we have the funding, resources, outreach and programming to engage and grow our Activator network is crucial.

Innovating on Follow-on-Funding Our current process for funding women-led Ventures is just the start of the innovative funding models we want to provide. There are significant regulatory barriers that are being innovated daily and given the financial fallout from COVID-19, we recognise that there is a lot of economic uncertainty.

Overcoming Deeply Entrenched Mindsets SheEO has radically redesigned the way we fund and support female entrepreneurs. Our application process is a simple, jargon-free process that does not require pitch decks or complicated attachments. Ventures are selected by Activators based on the Ventures’ business model, product or service (is it making the world a better place?), export potential, and whether the Activator would buy their product or service. SheEO Ventures are further supported with ongoing coaching and the connections and influence of women throughout the SheEO ecosystem. 

Expanding Our Activator Network  SheEO has established a robust feedback mechanism to determine current and emerging needs in our community. Since launching, we’ve received hundreds of pieces of data. SheEO has also recently conducted an in-depth survey of our Activators. We are encouraged by the early results that indicate how we can best grow and support this community. 

Innovating on Follow-on-Funding We are currently working on new models of community wealth creation and lending model.. We are exploring blockchain, alternative currencies, and crowd-based or peer-based lending that is rooted in radical generosity that scales up as our Ventures scale up. We are watching, participating in and leading conversations around scaling up new forms of capital allocation that go towards the highest and best use (where it's needed vs. where it can make more money simply increases inequality)

In Canada, SheEO is part of the Women's Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH). WEKH shares research and resources on women entrepreneurs in Canada. Made up of 10 regional hubs, WEKH operates in both official languages and includes a network of over 250 organizations, reaching more than 100,000 women entrepreneurs. WEKH is a part of the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Strategy that aims to increase women entrepreneurs’ access to financing, talent, networks and expertise. 

Internationally, SheEO collaborates with dozens of organizations and coalition groups. Notable organizations include Gender Smart Investing (UK) and the Criterion Institute (USA). 

GSI GenderSmart is a global initiative dedicated to unlocking gender-smart capital at scale. GSI does this by building the capacity and connectivity of gender finance investment influencers and thought leaders, intermediaries, and experts. GSI’s collaborators join with a primary focus on gender equality, and some focus on the power of women making markets. 

The Criterion Institute’s mission is to broaden what matters in economic decisions by expanding who has power and influence in the work of reinventing the economy.

Our model brings together 500 women (called Activators) in each year’s cohort, who contribute $1100 each as an Act of Radical Generosity. $1,000 of that money is pooled together (the additional $100 goes toward funding operational sustainability, technological innovations that support our community, creating follow-on funding models, educational programming, policy work with our global partners) and  loaned out at zero percent interest to five women-led Ventures selected by the Activators. 

All Ventures are revenue generating with export potential and are creating a better world through their business model or their product and service. The loans are paid back over five years and then loaned out again, thus creating a perpetual fund which we will pass on to our daughters, nieces and granddaughters. The 500 women Activators in each cohort become the de-facto ‘team’ of the five selected Ventures bringing their buying power as early customers, their expertise and advice and their vast networks to help grow the businesses.

Launched in 2015 in Canada, this visionary model is emerging as a leading global innovation that is totally unique. Rather than trying to fit women into the existing models and systems and level the playing field, we are creating an entirely new field.

SheEO pushes the reset button on how to support women on their own terms. We focus on bringing out the best of women by being radically generous to one another. It’s an entirely new values set designed with a feminist lens.

At present, SheEO is in five countries and the Perpetual Fund Exceeds $5M with a 95% repayment rate. Our goal is to activate one million women within the decade. This would support 10,000 female entrepreneurs around the world with a pool of capital exceeding $1 billion, making a real contribution to a more inclusive workforce.

SheEO reaches financially self-sustainable when we reach 30,000 annual activations which we hope to achieve within the next four to five years. On the path to sustainability, SheEO will be securing donations and grants from foundations, philanthropic organizations, and individuals who support SheEO’s vision.

Summary of 2020 Budget (Approved & Estimates)

[A] Grants = $1,289,595
[B] Private Sector Partnerships = $381,885
[C] Foundations & Grantmakers = $300,000
[D] Sustainability Fees & Events

• IRAP
• WES
• WEKH

[B] Private Sector Sources:

• Ryerson University
• RBC Bank
• BMO Bank
• Gallagher Insurance
• EDC Canada
• City of Toronto
• Canada Post

[C] Foundations & Grantmakers

• Mastercard Centre for Inclusive Growth

As outlined in slide 30 of our SheEO Model & Sustainability plan, SheEO intends to raise $10 million from a variety of sources around the world.

Please view 2020/2021 Budget Forecast:

10% of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty. This is expected to rise with economic fallout from COVID-19.  Global inequality continues to rise with the richest 1% of the population owning 44% of the world’s wealth. And as a backdrop is a climate emergency that is threatening our planet. Clearly, our current system is broken. 

At the core of each of these trends are deeply entrenched mindsets that disregard sustainability, accumulate wealth in the hands of a few, and reward a “winner-take-all”, top-down decision making process that excludes the small and medium-sized business that make up 90% of all economies yet are starved for capital.

SheEO’s vision is to make the world a better place, not by levelling this playing field, but by creating an entirely different field. The Elevate Prize, and the organization behind it, is perfectly aligned with this vision. Funding and the ability to leverage the expertise, connections, influence and experience of The Foundation’s partners and executives will allow us to support more women around the world - both entrepreneurs and those who want to play a role as change agents in their communities. In this way we will overcome entrenched mindsets and ultimately, elevate humanity.

1. Talent recruitment - SheEO is looking to engage other women interested in becoming Activators. Participating in activities such as ‘Ask/Gives’ would help bring more energy, skills and resources to an already engaged network and ecosystem.

2. Legal or regulatory matters - Our goal will be to build out blockchain or other financial innovations that allows for capital innovation and allocation of capital and follow-on funding across borders and to extend our funding model to all currencies with the inclusion of alternative currencies. 

3. Marketing, media and exposure - SheEO wants to invest more effort to profile more indigenous and racialized entrepreneurs, and women who are feeling the negative effects of COVID-19.

As outlined in the previous questions, SheEO is currently using best in class technologies such as GSuite, Salesforce, Zoom, Calendly, Quickbooks, Zapier, Mailchimp, Shopify, etc. We want to establish an entire partnership strategy to enhance SheEOs further use of these technologies, but also support a broader use and adoption of these tools within the SheEO ecosystem. 

Each of these organizations have key people involved in diversity and inclusion, human resources, engineering, and marketing and communications with whom we want to build a holistic partnership strategy. Beyond free software or donations, we want to build a broader and more encompassing partnership model.