The Cartier Women’s Initiative has been empowering women impact entrepreneurs for the past 17 years, providing financial and human capital to grow their businesses.
By investing in these female changemakers, the Initiative recognises their work and provides the necessary skills and knowledge for growth. Its community also creates space for incredibly beneficial connections between entrepreneurs and their supporters.
Every year, the program features 11 awards, composed of 9 regional and 2 thematic awards that recognise and fund talented impact entrepreneurs from around the world who leverage business as a force for good.
Program applications are open to women-run and women-owned businesses from any country and sector that aims to have a strong and sustainable social and/or environmental impact on society. This means the applicants must be delivering meaningful solutions to the most pressing global challenges.
First place awardees receive USD $100,000 in grant funding, while second gets USD $60,000 and third gets USD $30,000.
In addition to grant funding, all 33 fellows benefit from media visibility, networking opportunities and lifelong access to the CWI community.
There’s also one year fellowship program, with training in impact entrepreneurship with INSEAD business school, leadership communication, specific business topics and executive coaching.
Who are Oceania’s three finalists?
Alison Harrington (Australia)
Resparke founder Alison Harrington started her company when she discovered evidence that music can reduce problematic behaviours and improve wellbeing for dementia sufferers. Resparke’s app takes advantage of the fact that music bypasses the areas of the brain that are switched off in dementia and personalises the experience using language, nationality, religion, age and music preferences.
“It’s about transforming seniors’ wellbeing, about connecting to memories and building beautiful bonds between people.”
Alison Harrington
The number of people living with dementia worldwide is expected to triple to 152 million by 2050, and Resparke has already reached more than 25,000 dementia patients and trained nearly 6,000 staff members. Research studies across four cohorts at the 290 facilities in Australia and New Zealand using Resparke show that residents’ mood improved nearly 80 per cent and psychotropic drug use dropped by 12 per cent.
Simran Kaur (New Zealand)
Growing up in New Zealand, Girls That Invest founder Simran Kaur was aware of the life-changing power of money but found few resources for young women – particularly women of color. She created Girls That Invest to fill that need in a male dominated industry.
Women often lag behind men in accumulating wealth because fewer than 25 per cent of women worldwide invest their money.
“Every woman should have the tools and confidence to make informed investment decisions. Financially empowered women can have a ripple effect, fostering an environment of financial growth in their communities, and inspiring a diverse new generation of investors.”
Simran Kaur
The Girls That Invest podcast has been downloaded 6 million times and nearly 6,000 women have participated in the six week intensive masterclass.
Frances Bilbao (Australia)
Clinical psychologist Frances Bilbao founded Mums Matter Psychology to support Australian women’s mental health during pregnancy and the first years of their children’s lives through specialised therapy both in person and via telehealth.
About 20 per cent of new mothers worldwide experience mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. Treatment can be expensive and hard to find.
“As a clinical psychologist, I feel that the perinatal space is where I can make the biggest difference and have an exponential impact on women’s lives, with ripple effects across entire families and future generations.”
Frances Bilbao
Over the past eight years, Mums Matter Psychology has provided free therapy to more than 5,600 clients across Australia and estimates that it has reduced the national costs of perinatal depression and anxiety – estimated at USD $585 million annually – by USD $30.7 million.