Below is the press release:
The seventh edition of Young Women: what a feat! the business start-up orientation course organized by the Pangea Foundation, a non-profit organization that has been working to promote the economic and social development of women since 2002, with the support of The UPS Foundation and hosted at the Casa delle Donne del Mediterraneo in Bari.
The course, completely free, involved 14 teachers for 100 hours of lessons and supported 15 women between 23 and 45 years old in structuring their project – from the definition of the business idea to the analysis of the reference market, from the legal forms to funding sources, from digital marketing to business plans – offering participants the opportunity to enter or re-enter the world of work through the realization of their own business project.
Much attention was dedicated to the motivations of aspiring female entrepreneurs, the different skills they need to have, their valorization from a gender perspective and the importance of creating a network around the business.
“After Rome and Milan it was very important for us to bring this edition of the course to Bari,” he commented Simona Lanzoni vice president of the Pangea Foundation. “Being in the South is an added value in response to the challenges that Pangea carries out every day alongside women of all ages and in every place in the world. All the participants showed a great desire to get back into the game, investing in their skills, which are sometimes not always valued. The continuity of this course over time is therefore central for us because we believe it is essential to provide women with the tools to build economic-financial and decision-making autonomy. These are the prerequisites for achieving real gender equality, for eliminating the pay gap between men and women and the lower participation of the latter in the labor market”, concludes Simona Lanzoni.
The UPS Foundation supported the non-profit organization Pangea ETS and the 2024 edition of the “Young Women: What a Business!” project with a donation of $25,000. “We at UPS strongly believe in female empowerment and the Pangea project,” she said Paco Conejo Managing Director of UPS Southern Europe. “UPS brought its know-how to the classroom to explore the dynamics of e-commerce, today a crucial asset for seizing business opportunities in Italy and around the world. Supporting women entrepreneurs contributes significantly to the development of stronger and more inclusive communities.”
“It was an important initiative that Pangea and The UPS Foundation brought to Bari and being there as Giraffa was equally important for the consolidation of the Reama network which we immediately joined,” he comments Maria Pia Vigilante president ofAPS Giraffe. “The project Young women: what a feat! in this historical moment, especially in the South, it has been an effective driver for the acquisition of skills, since it has helped women to acquire awareness of their own aptitudes, made them aware of any regional tenders to be able to choose which business model to pursue and has thus contributed to taking a step forward towards gender equality.”
Also to intervene Serena Triggiani Councilor for Gender Policies of the Puglia Region: “A precious opportunity for women to self-determine and be architects of their own future through doing business, with a wealth of knowledge useful in the world of work. Accompanying, supporting and promoting training courses aimed at women means contributing to building freedom and forms of emancipation that are essential for creating social and gender equality”. She stated Triggiani “As councilor for gender policies and as a woman, I will strenuously support initiatives, actions and projects that stimulate the participation of women in entrepreneurial activities. Puglia, and I am very proud of this, is a region in turmoil for female businesses and startups. The latest report from the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy records around 90 thousand women-owned businesses in our region, placing Puglia at the top compared to the other regions of Southern Italy. The path is clear but we need a continuous commitment from everyone, no one excluded. I thank the Pangea Foundation and The UPS Foundation in the Casa delle donne del Mediterraneo in Bari for their continuous commitment with and for women”.
“It was exciting for me to be able to participate in this event and bring my testimony both as an entrepreneur of a technology company in the field of AI and Computer Vision, and as a representative of Confindustria Puglia. Events like this encourage the creation of networks that are essential for the flourishing of successful entrepreneurial initiatives,” he added Katerina Ufnarovskaiatech entrepreneur at the head of the Gender Equality Group of Confindustria Puglia.
The UPS Foundation
The UPS Foundation supports the training of women entrepreneurs, their access to the world of work and a regulatory framework that allows them to acquire the necessary knowledge and tools to further expand their businesses. In fact, at least 25% of the UPS Foundation’s annual donations go to organizations that offer access to training programs and create economic opportunities for less privileged women and young people.
