FEW
Female Entrepreneurial Week

Female Entrepreneurial Week is an official event of the WorldSMEs Week and marks an importand milestone in the roadmap towards Female Entrepreneurship and Female Economic Empowerment in the Balkans and the wider European Region.

 

1st Female Entrepreneurial Week

The “1st Female Entrepreneurial Week” was held on 11-14 November 2014 at Porto Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki, by the Greek Association of Women Entrepreneurs (SEGE) in cooperation with the Chamber of Heraklion, Eurochambers, the Association of Mediterranean Businesswomen (AFAEMME), the Association of Mediterranean Trade & Industrial Chambers (ASCAME) and ANIMA (Mediterranean Development Agency). The Forum was held with the collaboration of the General Secretariat for Gender Equality, and under the auspices of the Municipality of Thessaloniki.

Events:

During the Female Entrepreneurial Week, the following events took place:

  • The main events were the two EUROMED Invest Academy seminars, which were held in cooperation with the Chamber of Heraklion Crete. The seminars were focused on SMEs’ support and foreign investments. The seminars were attended by ANIMA Investment Network, ASCAME, EUROCHAMBRES, EMDC Foundation. A total of over 100 people participated in each one on a daily basis.

  • Training Session of Balkan Women Coalition, where delegates from 11 Balkan countries participated.

  • A Greek-Bulgarian Forum was organized, in order to exchang good practices between Greece and Bulgaria. The Forum was attended by 20 Mayors from the regions of Greece and Bulgaria. The Ambassador of Bulgaria, Mr. Vasil Valchev, honored the event with his presence.

  • The VI MEDA Women Entrepreneurs Forum, provided to women entrepreneurs from the Mediterranean area with the opportunity to make business contacts in key sectors for the economic development of the Mediterranean as well as to explain success stories, share good practices and know‐how and to analyze the role of women in the development of the region’s economies. In this year’s edition, we discussed highly interesting subjects, such as the power of women in business organizations, women growing their businesses, and women’s access to finance, with the major aim of discussing and later suggesting ways of supporting women entrepreneurship in the entire region, as well as generating an always stronger business network for businesswomen on both shores of the Mediterranean.

  • B2B meetings between women Entrepreneurs from 34 Countries

  • Entrepreneurial Female Business Awards, organized by SEGE. Among the winners there were 2 Greek entrepreneurs, Mrs. Sapounaki Fotoula (Balkan Women Motivators) and Mrs. Tsaltampasi Apostolina (Mediterranean Women Motivator)

    Participants:

    The conference was attended by 69 speakers from 34 countries1 and by more than 350 delegates, representing more than 120 Business and Development Organizations Abroad as well as foreign Entrepreneurs. The B2B meetings, which were organized with the participation of representatives of 34 countries and 60 Greek entrepreneurs. The Female Entrepreneurial Week was honored with the presence of Mr. Orfanos Georgios (Minister of Macedonia-Thrace), Mrs. Karakoli Magdalini (Assistant Secretary General of DOS & DP), Mr. Iliadis Georgios (Vice-President of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce), Mr. Philippidis Pantelis (President of Trade Union of East Macedonia and Thrace and President of Thessaloniki’s Trade Association).

    Sponsors:

    The General Secretariat for Gender Equality, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the Thessaloniki’s Chamber of Commerce, Helexpo, FARCOM Cosmetics, OECON Group Business Consultants and Grand Tour Operators Travel Agency.

2nd Female Entrepreneurial Week

The “2nd Female Entrepreneurial Week” was held on 27-30 September 2016, at Porto Palace Hotel in Thessaloniki. This year’s event marked an important milestone in the roadmap towards Female Entrepreneurship and Female Economic Empowerment. This highly interactive Forum brought together women from more than 25 countries continuing the strong female entrepreneurship network created during the “1st Female Entrepreneurial Week”, at November 2014. The attendees had the opportunity to share success stories, good practices and to analyze the role of women in the development of the region’s economies.

Events:

During the “2nd Female Entrepreneurial Week”, the following events took place:

  • A highly interactive exchange of experience seminar on “Economic Empowerment of Women Victims of Violence”. The objective of the seminar was to exchange knowledge and good practices, which will be used to create a toolkit to support anti-violence shelters and centers, strengthen their capacity to provide effective solutions for women’s economic empowerment. The seminar was organized in collaboration with the project “WE GO! Women Economic-Independence and Growth Opportunity”.

    • Seminar on “Opportunities for Development of SMEs”, which aimed at educating women entrepreneurs and women who want to set up their own businesses. Also it aimed at developing their skills with the main purpose of providing new economic and social opportunities and their active participation in the economic development of Europe. The seminar was organized in cooperation with the project “European Region Entrepreneurship Connection – EFEB Network”.

    • Press conference on “Fighting discrimination and anti-Gypsyism in education and employment in EU”. The aim was to offer an integrated approach that would enhance Roma women’s access to education and work, to accelerate their integration into the social life and to raise awareness of society against racial discrimination, racism and rights and solidarity. The press conference was organized in the framework of the European PAL project “Fighting discrimination and anti-Gypsysim in education and employment in the EU”. The project will carry out similar actions in eleven (11) other European Union countries (Belgium, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, Albania, Croatia and the Czech Republic).

    • Presentation of a Gamification methodology, which is the application of typical elements of game playing (e.g. point scoring, competition with others, etc.) to other areas of activity, such as teaching, to encourage engagement, learning flow, evaluation etc. of participants. Its aim was to inform the public for the development of a novel educational 2-D serious video game which will help refugees engage in learning their host country’s language by playing and interacting digitally, while combining local cultural aspects (e.g. what time do they have lunch in Belgium?). The game will be developed in cooperation with the project “BIG STEP: Learning through Gamification – Integration of the vulnerable groups” and will be tailored to the respective needs and educational level of our target groups, who will be reached through the official structures in place by the member states, and will enhance their media and literacy skills to a great extent, competences that are going to be very useful when looking for a job eventually.

      Participants:

      The conference was attended by 34 speakers from 25 countries and by more than 300 delegates, representing more than 70 Business and Development Organizations Abroad.

3rd Female Entrepreneurial Week

The 3rd International Female Entrepreneurial Week” Forum took place in Thessaloniki, on 26 to 30 November 2018, at the Grand Hotel Palace. The city of Thessaloniki hosted for the third time such a large business event with the participation of business missions from 35 countries.

The Forum was held by the Greek Association of Women Entrepreneurs (S.E.G.E.), in collaboration with OECON Group and also with the support of the Representation of the European Commission in Greece, the Ministry of Economy and Development, the General Secretariat for Gender Equality – GGIF, the Region of Central Macedonia, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship – ESEE, the Association of Industries of Peloponnese and Western Greece – SEVPDE, the Union of Hellenic Chambers of Commerce – KEEE, the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece – KEDE,

the Thessaloniki Chamber of Tradesmen – ΕΕTΗ, Thessaloniki Chamber of Handicrafts – BETH, the Chamber of Halkidiki, the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry – ΕVETH, the Business and Cultural Development Center – KEPA, the Federation of Trade, Productivity and Entrepreneurship of Central-Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (O.E.P.E.K.A.M.TH.), the University of Macedonia – PAMAK and the Centre for Business Development – MicroSTARS.

The Forum was honoured by the presence of Mr Ekstrom Monika (Head of the Political Analysis Department of the European Commission Representation in Greece), Mr. Eksadaktilos Nikolaos (Dep. General Secretary DOS & AS.), Mrs. Patoulidou Voula (Regional Vice governor of the Metropolitan Unit of Thessaloniki), Angelidou – Polychroniadou Anna (Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Thessaloniki), Kapnopolis Anastasios (President of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Crafts), Pantelis Filippidis (President O.E.P.E.K.A.M.TH and President of The Thessaloniki Trade Association), Granouzi Chrysa (member of the Board of Directors of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce), Chalkia Anastasia (Economic Supervisor of the Chamber of Halkidiki), Stamkos Neocles (Business and Cultural Development Center (KEPA), Tourta Maria (GGIF Representative to the Regional Equality Committee of Central Macedonia).

Actions:

  • Tech Lab – Educational Workshop with main subject the new media and how they contribute to personal and professional development. The workshop had great responce, as it was highly instructive for the business audience, in which there was a strong youthful presence.

  • Business Lab, a seminar aimed at informing young entrepreneurs about the support tools that exist and how they could help them in their first steps, how to use them properly in order to meet their goals, and what other alternative forms of funding exist.

  • International Pitching Event, attended by 10 business angels – investors from Greece and abroad and 8 StartUp companies, which were selected through 70 participations. During the Pitching Event, the entrepreneurs who participated had the opportunity to find investors for their business.
  • Educational seminar – BSO Lab, attended by speakers – representatives of women’s bodies in Greece and abroad. Through this seminar women have had the opportunity to learn about the work of women’s organisations in various countries around the world, how they can get involved and what are the benefits for women entrepreneurs.International Pitching Event, attended by 10 business angels – investors from Greece and abroad and 8 StartUp companies, which were selected through 70 participations. During the Pitching Event, the entrepreneurs who participated had the opportunity to find investors for their business.

  • Central Greek Forum with parallel actions, carried out in cooperation with the Central Association of Municipalities of Greece (KEDE) and Intelagro (company of the OECON Group of companies). In the first forum, very interesting topics were developed about the empowerment of women and how local government contributes to it. At the same time, a seminar was held on the alternative agriculture and its development. A total of more than 100 people participated on each of them on a daily basis.

    Participants:

    In the 3rd Week of Women’s Entrepreneurship, more than 38 speakers from 25 countries were present and the participation of the participants exceeded 500 delegates, representing more than 80 Business and Development Agencies abroad, as well as foreign Entrepreneurs.

     

FEW opportunities will come.
Take advantage!