Female Entrepreneurs Reached by Free Training Jumps to 100k: MBA News

Proyecto Salta (Project Leap), an initiative of the Thunderbird School of Global Management, has achieved its goal of providing free business training to 100,000 new female entrepreneurs in Peru.

Project Leap is run in conjunction with partners including the Inter-American Development Bank and the Australian government.

“We are delighted to have partnered with so many impressive organizations to achieve something that will have such a meaningful impact,” said Kellie Kreiser, executive director for Thunderbird’s social impact initiative Thunderbird for Good, in a press release.

Project Leap to boost Peruvian enterprise

Launched in 2010, Project Leap was devised to meet the huge demand for practical business training in Peru, a country home to one the largest proportions of female entrepreneurs in the world. “Women entrepreneurs have been proven to be powerful economic drivers,” added Kreiser, “I expect that Peru will see benefits from this newly educated group.”

The educational framework for Project Leap was put together by professors on the Thunderbird MBA program and saw cohorts of 200 female entrepreneurs come together in cities across Peru for seminars (pictured, left), access to micro-loan finance and educational resources.

The training’s emphasis was placed on relating its teaching to working realities in Peru as far as possible. One innovative method was to deliver exposure to business fundamentals through the popular medium of the telenovela (soap opera). Across three seasons, El Gran Salto (The Great Leap) focused on the trials and tribulations of women running their own businesses – interspersing an entertaining drama with essential guides, such as how to create a balance sheet.

Thunderbird MBA students in mentoring scheme

In addition, Thunderbird MBA students on their summer breaks acted as mentors to over 500 female entrepreneurs. Each participating Thunderbird MBA spent three months in and around the capital city of Lima meeting and working with business owners.

“During our time working together, we were able to not only reinforce her knowledge of things like cash flow statements and budgets, but also increase her self-confidence,” said one Thunderbird MBA student, Richard Carter, who had worked with Patricia, a baker in Callao.

Signs of positive progress are already visible from this aspect of Project Leap, with research at the end of last year highlighting that almost a third of those mentored by a Thunderbird MBA had already seen an increase in sales, while a quarter had managed to reduce costs based on their advice.

Reaching the 100,000 landmark is just one part of a wider campaign to help encourage and train female entrepreneurs in Peru. Another goal was reached in December 2013 when the global initiative to provide business and management education to female entrepreneurs, known as Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women, reached its target in Peru. More than 700 women graduated from the business certificate program for small-business owners, the curriculum for which was developed in conjunction with Thunderbird School of Global Management.

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Proyecto Salta image from Thunderbird School of Global Management.