(from: http://www.cedpa.org/content/news/detail/2389)

“If you want to support other people, you have to be able to support yourself first,” said Yuan Peng, vice chairwoman for the International Committee for the Promotion of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives. Peng explained her take-away lesson from the site visits she and her fellow Global Women in Management (GWIM) workshop participants went on last week.

Peng and 19 other participants from China, Egypt, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Thailand are in Jakarta, Indonesia for the four-week training. Every GWIM workshop includes site visits to local NGOs, giving participants the ability to see firsthand best practices in local community organizations dedicated to the economic participation of women. With every visit, participants get a better understanding of what works and how to improve their own organizations.

Peng and her group visited ASSPUK, an Indonesian association that promotes microenterprise services for women. The site visit made real for Peng what recent studies have shown: Building the capacity of women pays in major returns. Women reinvest up to 90 percent of their income in their families and their communities.

Yuan Peng talks about her experiences at the GWIM workshop.

CEDPA has understood the power of investing in women for more than 35 years. The GWIM workshop, sponsored by the ExxonMobil Foundation’s Women’s Economic Opportunity Initiative since 2005, has trained more than 300 women from 36 countries. The workshop, for mid-level, community-based women managers, advances participants’ leadership and strengthens skills in project management, decision-making, business development, proposal writing, and monitoring and evaluation.

The October workshop is the first to be held in the region. Other GWIM workshops have been held in Washington, D.C., Houston, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Cairo and Abuja (Nigeria).

During the workshop, participants build practical skills and learn the latest technical information from recognized experts. The program also recognizes the leadership ability of every participant and supports continuous learning. Participants are partners in the workshops—they provide continuous feedback, are engaged in decision making, and provide input and learning to other participants.

CEDPA’s alumni also report that they value the cross-cultural components of the regional and global workshops—they value the knowledge gained directly from other participants about the challenges and solutions for women leaders in other countries.

The support does not end with the workshop graduation ceremony. Newly-trained alumni are paired with a senior-level CEDPA alumna for a one-year coaching program. The program provides continuous learning, ongoing feedback, and professional trouble-shooting over structured phone, e-mail and in-person consultations over the course of the year.

From Right to Left: Vice Chair Yuanpeng of ICCIC, Lorie, Project Officer of Women's Economic Opportunity Initiative, Liang Yang from Beijing Global Village