On behalf of the Project Coordinator, HETFA Research Institute, Ms Fanni Bobák, Senior Project Manager, introduced the project and its main achievements. One of the key project results is the online toolkit, which is an Online Education Platform for female entrepreneurs. The English version of the toolkit is already available via our project website, here. Translation to partners’ languages has already started. The translated versions will also be soon available.
The Keynote speech of the morning session was given by Ms Enikő Sógor, Deputy Mayor of Miercurea Ciuc, Transylvania, Romania, where the Multiplier Event would originally take place. Ms Sógor, being also a teacher, psychologist, and psychotherapist spoke about the difficulties women face when they try to break out of traditional roles. Being the first woman fulfilling the role of Deputy Mayor in Miercurea Ciuc, Ms Sógor could speak about first-hand experiences and share her thoughts with the audience.
During the morning session, Ms Erzsébet Fanni Tóth, Lecturer at Sigmund Freud University presented the concept, methods and results of ifempower training schools, which were held between 31/01/2021 – 06/02/2021 (Winter School) and 07/04/2021 – 13/04/2021 (Spring School).
During the morning session, the students of the ifempower Spring School training programme presented their business ideas during the Pitch Session. The pitches were evaluated by the members of the Jury: Ms Clara López Pliego (Consultant and Manager of innovation projects, Barrabés.biz, Spain), Ms Virginie Poncet (Senior Advisor, Bpifrance, France) and Ms Ágnes Puskás (Economist, Chair of BPW Association Budapest and BPW DanubeNet, Hungary).
The Keynote of the afternoon session was dedicated to the situation of female entrepreneurs in the time of COVID-19. The theme was presented by colleagues from HETFA, coordinator of the project, Ms Luca Koltai (Head of Division for Public Policy and Impact Assessment, HETFA, Hungary) and Ms Réka Geambaşu (Senior research fellow, HETFA, Hungary). HETFA Research Institute launched a research project in May 2020 to better understand the situation of female entrepreneurs during the coronavirus pandemic. The research, based on an online questionnaire survey and personal interviews, examined how female entrepreneurs coped with the difficulties caused by the virus, both on the economic and family fronts. This report provided the baseline for the Keynote. You can find the report here.
After the Keynote, the roundtable discussion moderated by Ms Rosa Siles Moreno (Managing Director of Andalucía Emprende, Spain) focused on the challenges and/or advantages women facing in launching an enterprise during the days of pandemic. Panellists were Ms Gabriela Kostovska-Bogoeska (Executive Director of MIR, Coordinator of WEgate community), Dr. Marie Theres Thiell (Supervisory Board Member and Networker, Vice President of the German Hungarian Chamber of Commerce) Ms Ralitsa Zhekova (Executive Director of RAPIV) and Ms Sophie Rendl (Co-founder of Frauendomäne).
We would like to invite you to our FINAL Multiplier Event of ifempower project, which will be held on 12 July 2021. Please, save the date and spread the word about it. The registration is already open via Eventbride.com, by clicking this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ifempower-final-multiplier-event-registration-151808137225. Preliminary agenda will be available soon.
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