Walmart launches second edition of Women Entrepreneurship Development Program

The program aims to enhance the participants’ skills and capability to be able to build robust and sustainable businesses.

The program will be implemented by WEConnect International in partnership with TTC Global and Amity University with funding from Walmart. During the program, the WOBs will undergo capacity building training, mentoring and technical support customized to the needs of their businesses.

These training modules will cover all key areas for better understanding of and running a business – marketing, finance, business strategy, operations, legal and compliance, social networking, among others.

The WOBswould be in different product categories located in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi NCR, Mahashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh.

Announcing the launch, Krish Iyer, president & CEO, Walmart India, said, "I am extremely delighted to announce the second edition of the Women Entrepreneurship Development Program soon after the successful graduation of the participants of the first edition. We have ramped up the program and doubled the number.The program is designed to help women entrepreneurs achieve higher levels of business growth and help make them more competitive and resilient in today’s dynamic business environment. For India’s growth story to translate into shared prosperity for allof its people, we need to lay down a strong foundation to make the eco-system more inclusive We are moving the needle by doing our part through diversity in the supply chainto help create a pipeline of women suppliers for the industry as well as for Walmart India, as we continue to grow in the country.”

Walmart has an ongoing commitment to empower women around the world and help WOBs succeed and grow.

In September 2011, Walmart launched the Global Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) initiative, a five-year initiative to use its unique size and scale to improve the lives of under-served womenaround the world.

As part of the initiative, Walmart committedto source $20 billion from women for its U.S. business and double sourcing from WOBs internationally. While the company achieved the $20 billion sourcing goal for the U.S. in late 2016, Walmart continues to work toward the international goal to double sourcing from WOBs in other markets.

Jenny Grieser, Senior Director of Women’s Economic Empowerment for Walmart, said, "We are thrilled to be able to roll out the second edition of the WEDP program as it strengthens
our commitment to economically empower women. Empowering women is the right thing to do for the community and it also makes good business sense."

WEConnect International is leading theoverall coordination and conceptualization of the training program, as well as selecting and assessing the needs of the participants.  Amity University is customizing the training curriculum as per requirements in addition totraining the participants.As a knowledge partner, TTCGlobal is responsible foridentification and selection of high potential WOBs.

Parul Soni,Country Director, WEConnect International in India, said, “WEConnect International believes in a world in which women have the same opportunity as their male counterparts to design and implement business solutions that create wealth and ensure the sustainable prosperity of their communities. The Women Entrepreneurship Development Program matches beautifully with our vision and we are excited to launch the second edition. We hope the curriculum will help us achieve this objective.”

During the program that lasts through July 2018, the women entrepreneurs will undergo a structured capacity building training, mentoring and technical support customized to the needs of their businesses and delivered through various formats, including classroom sessions, workshops, field trips, webinars etc.

They will be taught a number of aspects of running a business and making it sustainable in addition to life skills, social media marketing, operations, replenishment, logistics, supply chain, product marketing, financial planning and resource management, negotiation skills, among others.

The first edition of WEDP was launched in April 2016.