Shawna's Musings

I just watched Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Journalist and Author of The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, speak at TedxWomen. Her speech, The Face of Resilience, is a powerful one. I feel her perspective is an important one for women and men alike to consider. Below I have highlighted my takeaways from her talk and I encourage you to explore the role female entrepreneurs will make in the emerging economy.

“We do not invest in victims, we invest in survivors. And in ways both big and small, the narrative of the victim shapes the way we see women. You can’t count what you don’t see and we don’t invest in what’s invisible to us.”

“If you’re going to talk about jobs, then you have to talk about entrepreneurs. And if you’re talking about entrepreneurs in conflict and post conflict settings then you must talk about women because they are the population you have left. Rwanda in the immediate aftermath of the genocide was 77% female.”

Gayle traveled to Afghanistan in 2005 and met a female entrepreneur. “Business she said was critical to her country’s future because long after this round of Internationals left, business would keep her country peaceful and secure. And she said, Business was even more important for women because earning an income meant earning respect and money was power for women.”

“If you see the word Microfinance, what comes to mind? Most people say women. And if you see the word Entrepreneur? Most people think men. Why is that? Because we aim low and we think small when it comes to women. Microfinance is an incredibly powerful tool that leads to self-sufficiency and self-respect but we must move beyond micro hopes and micro ambitions for women because they have so much greater hopes for themselves.”

“Nearly everywhere I go meet incredibly interesting entrepreneurs seeking who are seeking access to finance, access to markets and established business networks. They are often ignored because they’re harder to help. It is much riskier to give a $50,000 loan then it is to give a $500 loan. And as the World Bank recently noted women are stuck in a productivity trap. Those in small businesses can’t get the capital they need to expand and those in micro business can’t grow out of them.”

“The great news is we already know what works! Theory and empirical evidence has already taught us, we don’t need to invent to solutions because we have them! Cash flow loans based on income rather than assets, loans that used secured contracts rather than collateral because women often don’t own land.”

“Recently it has become very much in fashion to call women the emerging market of the emerging market. And I think that is terrific, you know why? Because, and I say this as someone who worked in finance, $500 billion dollars at least has gone into the emerging markets in the past decade because investors saw the potential for return in a time of slowing economic growth.”

“How wonderful would it be if we were prepared to replace all of our lofty words with our wallets and invest $500 billion dollars unleashing women’s economic potential? Just think of the benefits when it comes to jobs, productivity, employment, child nutrition, maternal mortality, literacy and much much more.”

“This is an incredible opportunity, we have so much room to grow. This is not able doing good, this is about global growth and global employment. It is about how we invest and it is about how we see women. Women can no longer be both half the population and a special interest group.”

“We are not a special interest group, we are the majority and for far too long we have underestimated ourselves and been undervalued by others. It is time for us to aim higher when it comes to women, to invest more and deploy our dollars to benefit women all around the world. We can make a difference and make a difference not just for women but for a global economy that desperately needs their contribution.”

“When we change the way we see ourselves, others will follow. And it is time for all of us to think bigger.”

Gayle can be found on Twitter under @gaylelemmon