Women's Business School - Achievement in Thought Leadership
Company: Women's Business School, Sydney, NSW Australia
Entry Submitted By: The Audacious Agency, Gold Coast, Australia
Company Description: The Women's Business School, Australia's best incubator for women. Providing business education, guidance and support for Australian female founders
Nomination Category: Thought Leadership Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Achievement in Thought Leadership
Nomination Title: WOMEN'S BUSINESS SCHOOL: ONLINE INCUBATOR FOR WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Women’s Business School started life as a not-for-profit, creating an online community supporting mums in business. It quickly grew into helping mums feel happy, fulfilled and well. The group grew quickly and tripled in size in 12 months; an impressive achievement given there was no Facebook. They createdthe Connect2Mums platform, recognising other women, mums, who wanted to start businesses but lacked support. They wanted to give these women a platform to put ideas into action and have support to do so. Lobbying the Queensland government for $1m in funding, successfully securing funding for home-based businesses. Through their advocacy work at a federal level, the Australian government did a study on mumpreneurs and discovered with the right support, this industry could make a bigger impact than the mining industry, with a value of $2.7bn. Since then, they’ve been instrumental in:
-New South Wales Govt rolling out programs for women in business.
-Scaled the Ausmumpreneur Awards in 2009 to give mums in business recognition, now in its 12th year.
-Built an community with over 70,000+ women
-Became investors - have now invested into a number of female-led businesses including a publishing house to publish books supporting women in business
Women's Business School introduced the Female Founders Trade Mission to Europe in 2019, taking a group of women to Lisbon and London, with a highlight being an event hosted by Claire Rochecouste, the Australian ambassador to Portugal and participants speaking at the Women Economic Forum in the UK.
Published Back Yourself featuring 27 authors - this book brought together women from across Australia who shared their stories of starting their business. By creating a book filled with useful and pertinent advice, they continue their mission of empowering women in business. They published 2000 and sold 1600. This process also spurred the evolution of a new business arm as they moved into the publishing space as a platform to elevate women, create space for inclusion and give women a voice.
In 2021, the programs went global and currently have students from Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, India, the UK, Zambia and South Africa. They are excited to take the vision for supporting female founders everywhere to change the world.
Over $1 million in scholarships made available to marginalised women in tech and digital businesses including Indigenous Australians, disabled women, LGBTIQ+, migrant women and domestic violence survivors. These scholarships enable these women to participate in WBS’s programs, receive mentoring from a team of diverse and experienced mentors, business experts and investors, connecting them to the experiences, connections and opportunities needed to scale their startups.
Hosted online three-day festival in 2020 during COVID - 226 attended and had over 30,000 views globally.
Since 2016, The Women's Business School Incubator program has provided guidance, mentorship, support, and education for female founders focused on making the world a better place through their startups. They're building a connection economy - a sisterhood in business working together. Their work explodes society-wide stereotypes of mums in business who work from home, ensuring better understanding.
Their passion for inclusion and moving the needle on gender equality for women and non-binary people, ensures everyone has a seat at the table. They've created an abundance model and the strategy can be likened to a circle or spiral - women start out at the bottom and work their way up to become successful and then give back to new entrepreneurs coming through. Creating programs, communities and resources empowers a new generation of women.
They’ve been part of the success stories of over 400 female founders:
-Stacey Barrass, a domestic violence survivor and single mother who scaled her business and employed over 150 women like her.
-Kylie-Lee Bradford, a proud Aboriginal woman, has created an ecommerce platform to support other indigenous founders living in remote communities through mentoring and providing an online solution for them to take their products to market.
Their work has made a significant impact through advocacy work. They’re pivotal in the Australian Small Business Ombudsman report on mumpreneurs - a vital report that ensures understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing this demographic and why there is a need for ongoing funding and appropriate support.
Women's Business School's programs and advocacy is dedicated to showing the world that stay-at-home- mums deserve status and recognition. The businesses these women create are powerful and successful ventures, all started and built from home in and around children and not 'hobbies' as many refer to them. They want to show women are serious about business and to inspire other women at home with kids who want to do something else, besides returning to work.
The Women's Business School, founded by sisters Katy Garner and Peace Mitchell - is an online incubator recognising the need for dedicated business education for women that’s culturally sensitive, inclusive, time efficient, flexible and easy to access. Harvard and Macquarie University research shows women over 30 are less likely to participate in tech incubators; this lack of participation isn’t due to costs involved but restrictive requirements. Requirements such as committing to 40 hours a week in a coworking space - difficult for women in remote, rural and regional areas, those with disabilities, family responsibilities and commitments.
Women still have to battle to be taken seriously in business - Women’s Business School advocacy, lobbying and research shows there’s still a way to go in traditional business support. The programs Katy and Peace created attract women who are looking to be inspired and educated by their peers. The programs aren’t led by academics but by other business owners who don't look down on mums in business but lift and support them.
See support doc for evidence.