The Cartier Women’s Initiative is an annual international entrepreneurship program that aims to drive change by empowering women impact entrepreneurs. Founded in 2006, the program is open to women-run and women-owned businesses from any country and sector that aim to have a strong and sustainable social or environmental impact.

They have created a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award to encourage entrepreneurial solutions designed to close gaps of access, outcome or opportunity for communities that have been underrepresented or underserved.

While the other regional and thematic awards of the Cartier Women’s Initiative focus on supporting women, this pilot award is open to all genders.

Benefits

The three fellows from this category will receive:

FINANCIAL CAPITAL SUPPORT

• • US$ 100,000 grant for each first-place awardee
  • US$ 60,000 grant for each second-place awardee
  • US$ 30,000 grant for each third-place awardee

HUMAN CAPITAL SUPPORT

Our fellowship program focuses on several key areas of human capital support for women impact entrepreneurs and offers a combination of 1:1 training and collective workshops.

• • 1:1 training in specific business areas
  • 1:1 advice sessions with subject matter experts in CWI Community
  • Community peer learning and networking sessions
  • Online and in-person leadership communications and media training workshops
  • In-person INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Programme
  • 1:1 leadership capacity executive coaching by The Women’s Impact Alliance (formerly The Coaching Fellowship)

SOCIAL CAPITAL SUPPORT

Throughout the program, we strive to highlight the social and environmental impact created by our fellows and bridge connections between women impact entrepreneurs and their supporters.

• • International exposure & media visibility
  • Access to an online & offline community of 700+ experts and peers
  • Ongoing support for the development of the fellows’ businesses

Eligibility

The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award of the Cartier Women’s Initiative is looking for businesses offering products or services designed to close gaps of access, outcome or opportunity for communities that have been underrepresented or underserved. Entrepreneurs across all sectors and geographies are encouraged to apply. While the other regional and thematic awards of the Cartier Women’s Initiative focus on supporting women, this pilot award is open to all genders.

To be considered for this award, the applicant and the applicant’s business must meet the following eligibility criteria:

Embedded diversity, equity, and inclusion impact: The business should demonstrate that its main purpose is to work towards closing gaps of access, outcome or opportunity for underserved or underrepresented communities. Underserved or underrepresented communities might vary according to geographies. These communities suffer from discrimination based on different dimensions of diversity such as age, gender, sexual orientation, abilities (physical and mental), ethnicity, geographic location or religion. This list is not exhaustive. Gaps of access, outcome or opportunity, as they relate to levels of income/income inequality, are also eligible but the applicant should seek to address they are related to existing discrimination based on internal dimension(s) of diversity. Otherwise, the business would be a better fit for the Regional Awards.

For-profit: The business should be designed to generate sufficient revenue to support its operations and return some level of profit to its owners. Non-profit enterprises are not eligible. That said, the business does not have to be profitable at the time of application.

Early-stage: The business should have a proven business model and be in the initial phase of its development and growth (between 1 and 6 years of licensed/registered operations as of the date of application). This means that businesses applying to the 2024 edition must have been incorporated between June 2017 and June 2022.

Revenue generation: The business should be generating revenue from the sales of its products and/or services for at least 1 year as of the date of application, recurring according to your business cycle. For businesses applying to the 2024 edition, this means that they need to have been generating revenue since June 2022.

Fundraising: The business should not have raised more than US$2 million in dilutive funding as of the date of application. Dilutive funding is any kind of funding that requires you to give away a piece of your company, including not only future profits, but possibly control. The Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award caps the funds raised in order to ensure that the businesses selected fall within a similar range of development. Please note that businesses that have not raised any external funding are also encouraged to apply.

Leadership: The applicant must fill one of the main leadership positions, for example as CEO, COO, CTO, General Manager, or Managing Director of the business.

Ownership: The business must be majority owned by its founders and team members at the time of application. The applicant must be part of the founding team and must own a share greater or equal to that of their co-founder(s). Sole proprietorships are ineligible for the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award.

Legal entry age: The applicant must be at least 18 years of age on the day of the application deadline (June 30, 2023).

English proficiency: A good command of the English language is required. We require the Common European Framework of Reference Level B2 or above. This level requires an understanding of the main ideas of complex text, technical discussion in business and your field of specialization, and an ability to interact with fluency and spontaneity with native speakers. English proficiency is important because this is the common language for the Cartier Women’s Initiative team, its partners, jury members, and the community. Being proficient will allow the fellow to fully participate in the community and in the fellowship. Applicants with disabilities are encouraged to apply, and every effort will be made to include them appropriately.

Timeline

The applicant must commit to participating in the fellowship program from January 2024 to December 2024. Fellows will be expected to dedicate up to 4 hours/week virtually to the program from January 2024 to May 2024 and up to 2 hours/week virtually from June 2024 to December 2024. In addition to the virtual training, fellows will also be expected to attend one week of in-person training in May 2024. Beyond the fellowship, there are two days of on-site filming of the fellow and their business in the first quarter of 2024. Fellows will also be required to report their impact for 3 years following the completion of their fellowship.

How to Apply

Visit the Cartier Women’s Initiative portal to complete the online application form, and click ‘Apply now’. Must be submitted on or before 6pm CEST on Friday, June 30, 2023.

Author: whewowin