WISE4Women: an unforgettable experience
‘WISE is developing a 6 months game-changing program for 60 women across Greece, Croatia and Spain who either feel inspired to dedicate to creating positive social change through a variety of ways and forms or are already taking part in creating positive social change through an idea, project or venture. It offers them a chance to clarify how they can change the world, identify concrete steps to make it come true and supports them in this journey’. (http://wise4women.eu/)
This is the official statement for the program and couldn’t be truer. I applied for WISE late December 2014 in an effort to motivate myself towards taking a leap of entrepreneurial faith and communicate my social entrepreneurship plans to a wider audience. But I was the easiest ‘’case’’ (want to find out about my enterprise? Check out my next post coming soon). Twenty Greek women were chosen by the program in order to form an idea, solidify their strengths, learn and limit their weaknesses, conquer their fears and learn that women in the E.U. are given the chance to change or develop or establish their career paths.
I received an email on the 2nd of January 2015 welcoming me to the WISE program and I was over the moon. Despite not knowing all the information or the program’s full structure, I was more that certain that the hard work would pay off. The first Greek meeting was scheduled on January 2015 in Athens and Chania, Crete and Sharon Jackson (ESA, Greece, http://eurosustainability.org/) explained to us all the details of the program thoroughly and warned us playfully (but she was right!) that the WISE4Women program requires hard work, dedication and faith.
The interaction with the other women participants from all over Greece and later on the program from Spain and Croatia, made the program diversified, intellectual and most of all, useful.
New ideas, new people, new cultures were some of the elements that made me work on the program and on my idea harder, motivating me to be more successful, focused and in sync with the social prospects of my business. The modules were to the point and along with the theoretical knowledge; they included interface with my stakeholders, my clients (potential and existing) and, most of all, myself.
Personal growth and confidence, knowledge on social innovation and entrepreneurship, networking and new collaborations were some of the benefits I received during the 6-month period of WISE. These elements are the core of the program, the center pillars for maintaining it and expanding it even more. Moreover, ESA and especially Sharon Jackson and Yannis K. Maleganos (the Greek WISE coordinators) were our valuable support system in Greece and managed to put together a face-to-face workshop in ESA, Crete and connect all Greek participants thus creating a tight network of collaborations, inspirations and friendships (http://wise4women.eu/wise-face-to-face-workshop-esa-crete-12th-13th-march-2015/), along with the Module 5, one of the most beneficial and stimulating modules of the program (Building up your confidence as a woman leader). That workshop was the real boost for me to intensify my efforts and keep up with all the wonderful and inspiring people I met there.
Yesterday (August 2015), I received the email with my WISE4Women certificate, my evaluation and my grades. I had a quick thought, would I do it again? I asked myself. The answer was immediate and positive. I would do it again, with no hesitation, no looking back, no regrets. WISE4Women is more than just a skills-development program or empowerment learning platform. It is an experience that all women entrepreneurs, aspiring or active should have. Thank you Sharon, thank you Yannis, thank you WISE.
Ps. Special thanks to Ana Kolarevic for tolerating our computer questions, Soledad Pons for the great insights and the teachers of the modules 3 and 4, Ana Raguz and Miljenka Plazonic Bogdan.
The story of my enterprise following WISE4Women is coming soon.
