Communities are stronger and more resilient when women play an active role in economic development and growth. We’ve seen this time and again in our own public–private–civil society sector collaborations at CEDEC, and in research from organizations such as the United Nations, which has found that women’s economic empowerment increases productivity, diversification, GDP and other key measures.

Many of our partners say if they could better engage women, they’d see immediate impacts. Yet women receive less financing and investment than men — even though they’re responsible for roughly half of all new startups. And women’s businesses, which are often small or medium-sized, have been among those hit hardest by COVID-19.

CEDEC is committed to creating opportunities for women entrepreneurs and leaders through this period of COVID-19 recovery and beyond. Our hub approach helps women-led businesses access financing and capital, nearly half of the clients benefitting from our business advisory services are women-led organizations, and our collaborative economic development model is well suited to supporting recovery efforts.

Starting on March 8, International Women’s Day, and throughout the rest of March, we’ll be celebrating women’s economic contributions in a series of CEDEC blogs, interviews and live streams under the banner: Leveraging the Power of Women to Rebuild Canada’s Economy. The series will share the perspectives of women who have been part of our community hub collaborations.

Women play an essential role in creating jobs, growth, investment and other end-state benefits for communities — and in enabling others to experience them. Collaborating with public-private-civil society sector stakeholders, we can amplify those impacts, generating opportunities for women to achieve real, lasting economic impacts for their communities.