Growing the Bangladesh economy with women entrepreneurs

Women in Bangladesh face a distinct set of challenges when they seek to start or grow a business: many run the household and care for families, and society expectations impact property ownership and access to collateral, finance, buyers and markets. They are challenged by often limited access to networks for support and to strengthen their voices. With funds from the GSRD Foundation and the Lotus Circle we are equipping women’s business associations in six districts to increase networks, facilitate loan opportunities, and promote the use of information technology among these new entrepreneurs. We sponsored six district-level networking events, trained more than 550 women entrepreneurs, built six online marketing and sales portals to gain access to buyers, and hosted public private dialogues promoting new policies to support women’s entrepreneurship.