SHECAN, the women’s entrepreneurship event in the MENA region, founded by Entrepenelle, hosted its 3rd edition at the Greek Campus days ago, under the headline theme ‘Successful Failures.’
The event saw a diverse range of talks, workshops, and panel discussions on women’s experiences in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, and invited a number of successful women entrepreneurs and community leaders to engage in conversations about their personal journeys toward empowerment.
Bringing together more than 50 partners, including UN Women, the Swedish embassy, the National Council for Women, Nahdet Masr, Avon, Orange and the Export Development Bank of Egypt, the event was attended by more than 5,000 participants and focused on showcasing the activities of Entrepenelle alumni, and aimed to also offer opportunities to women interested in entrepreneurship in Egypt with talks featuring tips on pitching ideas, mentorship as well as multiple competitions.
Farida Salem, founder of Empower, a women’s only football school in Cairo, discussed the challenge of playing football, a sport dominated by men, and her belief that physical activity can empower women to reach for their goals.
“Getting up again after falling is what really makes the difference. And having more women as role models, this is what will change the world.”
Discussing her own leadership journey, alongside the goals of her post as Deputy Ambassador of the US Embassy in Cairo, Dorothy Shea said: “As far as I am concerned the sky is the limit. Women should be able to achieve whatever their dreams are. What I was struck by was this idea of ‘successful failures’, we need to not fear failure, it is not a destination, it is a stepping stone to success. Sometimes there can be a fear of failure, but as part of this entrepreneurship ecosystem, they are really trying to move that inhibition away. We learn from our failures and then we take our plans to the next level. I was really inspired by this theme.”
Entrepenelle is a mission driven social enterprise – that focuses on awareness, education, and resources accessibility in order to empower women economically. With more than 360 projects conducted in 9 different governorates including: Cairo, Alexandria, Mansoura, Minya, Assiut, Sohag and Aswan, Entreprenelle has managed to affect over 5,000 beneficiaries in Egypt.
