Women flourish when they have networks of support, says Marie C. Damour, the United States Ambassador to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
The U.S Embassy, along with its implementing partners, the Women Entrepreneurs Business Council (WEBC) and Makoi Women’s Vocational Centre (MWVC) launched the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) program in Fiji yesterday, for the fifth year in a row, with over 100 businesswomen participating.
The embassy awarded FJ$95,000 to WEBC to facilitate this year’s program. Since 2020, more than 450 women entrepreneurs from across Fiji have graduated from the program.
The AWE program provides Fijian businesswomen with the knowledge, networks, and access they need to launch and scale successful businesses. The program uses a hybrid model that combines the online training platform–Dreambuilder–developed in partnership with the Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and global copper mining company Freeport-McMoRan–with in-person mentoring and facilitation.
“As a US government exchange program, AWE connects with US-style learning and expertise. This initiative bolsters the participants’ business acumen and builds stronger ties among women entrepreneurs across different markets,” said Ambassador Damour.
Wati Talavutu, a 2022 AWE program participant and member of WEBC, recently opened a retail outlet in Ba town. She designs and creates traditional and contemporary wedding and special event outfits, backdrops, and other masi accessories. Talavutu has also achieved national recognition, with Tourism Fiji using her design for their logo last year, and the Fiji Arts Council selecting her as the only tapa maker from Fiji to attend the 13th Festival of Pacific Arts and Culture in Hawaii in June.
The Ambassador confirmed Talavutu will be joining WEBC as one of seven facilitators of the seven-month program.
New participants, Bulou Ratabua and Christina Bulivou, are looking forward to opportunities to develop their businesses through the AWE program.
Ratabua, a former tourism industry worker, says her business involves selling and delivering food packs in the greater Suva area.
“I’ve always dreamed of owning a restaurant or a coffee shop. With this program, I believe it will help me to manage and grow my business [idea],” she said.
Bulivou has been running a handicrafts business online for three months.
Using the TikTok platform, the mother-of-two creates and sells unique hair clips that have gained much interest and customers in Fiji and abroad.
“When I see people admire or wear what I made, it makes me happy,” she said.
Bulivou says she aims to further improve her budgeting skills through the AWE program.