Social Enterprise a Natural Home for Women

The depressing news that women’s unemployment levels in the UK have reached a 25 year high is brought into even sharper focus by International Women’s Day.

At times like this women are, out of necessity, driven into self-employment by the need to create their own income. Entrepreneurship though might not appear a natural home for women with twice as many men starting up businesses. Interestingly, perhaps those differences do not apply in social enterprise where women are just as likely to establish a social venture as men.

Is social enterprise therefore a more natural home for women entrepreneurs? Value-driven and supportive of both workforce and community, it is increasingly seen as a Welsh way of business. It doesn’t commoditise the vulnerable as in financially-driven models and retains any profits within local communities. Social Enterprise is business but a model that balances social and environmental aims with economic goals.

The reasons for the higher levels of women in social enterprise are not fully clear. The flexibility offered by social enterprise and the availability of opportunities arising from a natural connectedness with their community would appear factors.

Women social entrepreneurs are making a difference across the world. My english counterpart, Claire Dove combines her role as Chair of the english social enterprise umbrella organisation with heading up Blackburne House a ground breaking social enterprise in Liverpool. World-wide, women have established successful social  enterprises delivering major impact. Thousands of premature babies in developing countries are saved by the low-cost baby warmer developed by Jane Chen;  Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of the Acumen Fund, provides tailored support to social entrepreneurs across the globe and Wangari Maathai championed environmental conservation and women’s rights through her Green Belt organisation.

We know that society in five years time will look very different and that we need to find innovative solutions to some of the huge challenges we face. How do we find the women social entrepreneurs we need to drive positive change in Wales? The answer is probably already within reach. UnLtd, an organisation that supports social entrepreneurs, quotes the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor to suggest that there are currently 6,000 women in Wales who want to start up a social venture. Research has also shown that for each individual supported by UnLtd an average of four jobs are created. Is it impossible to imagine that by supporting women social entrepreneurs in Wales we could create nearly 25,000 jobs?

There is already a pool of successful female role models in Wales delivering amazing results within local communities. These talented women, often self-effacing and with little recognition have regenerated communities and delivered social and economic outcomes to thousands.  Women such as Dawn Davies of Creation Development Trust, Jenny Sims of Pembrokeshire FRAME,  Maisie Andrews of Goodies in Hoodies, Menna Jones of Antur Waunfawr , Colette Watkins of the Gellideg Foundation, and Angela Gorman of Life for African Mothers to name but a few.  All are well known in Social Enterprise circles but rarely mentioned among policy makers or included in economic think tanks. Women social entrepreneurs are a huge block of untapped catalysts for the society we want to be tomorrow. Perhaps it’s time they had a seat at the table.

Lis Burnett is Head of The University of Glamorgan’s Social Entrepreneurship Hub and Chair of the Welsh Social Enterprise Coalition. [email protected]  Follow Lis on Twitter @lisburnett