Women’s Economic Empowerment Program from Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship

Miller Center is now accepting applications for the Women’s Economic Empowerment Program. Miller Center accelerator programs are designed for organizations that have established operations. This means they have been in operation for at least 1 year. Concept and pre-revenue startup businesses are not eligible.

About the Program:-

The Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) Accelerator is for social enterprises that are intentional about supporting women in one or more of the following ways:

• Social Enterprise Leaders: The primary participant identifies as female and is a founder, CEO, or other top-level leader with decision-making authority.
• Employees: The business model intentionally creates more jobs for women within the enterprise.
• Value Chain Contributors: The organization creates increasing business opportunities for women along its value chain (e.g., using a village sales agent model that is more amenable to women villagers’ lifestyle or buying products made by women).
• Customers: Predominantly female customers by design. In this case, “customers” refers to those who are positively impacted by the enterprise.

• Most Miller Center alumni go on to receive funding,either in the form of debt, equity, or grants.
• Miller Center’s programs are designed to help social enterprises validate their business models, develop a strong justifiable ask (investment amount, type of capital, intended use of funds, return on investment, and expected impact), and develop the diligence and communications materials required for investment so the entrepreneur is confidently able to approach investors that will help them get to that next stage of growth.
• About 60% of the most-recent graduates have raised funding within one year of graduation. On average, the investment totals $750,000 per enterprise.

• Applicant Requirements:
• A senior leader (e.g., CEO, Executive Director, Managing Director).
• Fluent in English.
• Has consistent and reliable access to internet connectivity.
• Has the bandwidth to participate in the program’s 6-month duration, requiring an average of 4-6 hours/week.
• Organization Requirements:
• Committed to creating positive benefits for people living in poverty, addressing one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
• Committed to scale its solution far beyond current operations.
• Has been operational for at least a year and is delivering products/services to customers.
• Has at least $20,000 USD but no more than $2M USD in annual earned income and is not entirely dependent on contributions or grants.
• Has at least 3 paid, full-time employees (or equivalent).
• Has at least 3-months of cash runway.

About Miller Center:-

Miller Center is at the forefront of the global social entrepreneurship movement, with a robust track record of accelerating social enterprises since 2003. Miller Center's work with social entrepreneurs is creating proof points for the case that business can be a driving force for positive change. Miller Center's proven model unites the talents and expertise of the executive mentors, world-class programs, Silicon Valley’s spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship.

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