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Location: Poland

Impact Areas: Job placement

People Supported:
At-risk women, refugees & migrants

Ingressou em NESsT Portfólio:
2024

Visão geral

While progress has been made in closing the gender gap in Poland, significant challenges persist. Women continue to face barriers in accessing essential networks, mentorship opportunities, and career development resources compared to men. For example, a 2025 survey showed that 46% of women identified gender-based bias and discrimination as the most significant barriers to their career growth. 

Based in Poland, Women's Entrepreneurship Foundation (WEF) is dedicated to supporting the empowerment of women in entrepreneurship and business. The foundation runs several business lines – from acceleration programs and educational courses to mentoring clubs – all unified by a common goal: to close the gender gap in employment and foster an inclusive business environment throughout Poland. 
 
In response to the growing need for meaningful business support among women entrepreneurs in Poland, WEF launched an accelerator program designed to support women to build and grown their own businesses. Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, WEF introduced a new program tailored specifically for refugee women from Ukraine looking to start their own ventures in Poland.  

Since 2013, the foundation has supported over 500 women-led businesses through grants, personalized mentoring and coaching, guidance on scaling and international expansion, and regular networking events that foster collaboration. 
 
Additionally, its networking events, conferences, and tailored membership packages create opportunities for established and first-time women entrepreneurs to connect, learn, and grow, while generating revenue to support the foundation’s mission. The foundation runs an exclusive club for women investors. Members pay an annual fee to access curated events and professional networks to build a strong community focused on financial education, personal and cultural growth, and valuable business connections with a focus on investing in women-led businesses. 

It also conducts research focused on women's entrepreneurship to ensure it continues to address the unique challenges faced by women in business and to build a more equitable and prosperous entrepreneurial environment. 

Women's Entrepreneurship Foundation supports diverse groups, including disadvantaged women starting or developing businesses such as migrant and refugee women, women without prior access to the skills and knowledge needed to secure meaningful employment, female-led entities, and angel investors.

NESsT Investimento

Over the next five years, Women's Entrepreneurship Foundation aims to identify over 270 employment opportunities for women facing displacement or migration. It aims to do so by supporting women to launch their own businesses, including women facing migration or displacement, and providing job readiness training to women to enter the workforce. 
 
NESsT's investment to Women's Entrepreneurship Foundation will support the launch of new online courses and training programs. Additionally, it will go towards developing digital tools for outreach, supporting Women's Entrepreneurship Foundation to generate increased sales leads and boost its long-term commercial growth. 

Mentorship and business assistance from NESsT portfolio managers and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship will further support the Women's Entrepreneurship Foundation team in developing and refining its overall strategy, with a focus on growing both social impact and business results. NESsT will also work alongside Women's Entrepreneurship Foundation to strengthen its commitment to building an inclusive work environment where all individuals, regardless of their background, have the resources and opportunities needed to thrive professionally.