IFC and Microsoft sign partnership to foster female entrepreneurship and opportunities for people in refugee situations in Brazil
Microsoft Participações is joining the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging and World Bank Group member markets to promote female entrepreneurship and the training and employability of people in refugee situations in Brazil.
The partnership between the two institutions provides for three complementary actions: a public workshop that will discuss how to address the ESG (acronym in English for Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) dimensions in technology companies and early stage startups, a technical training program for executives and the promotion of technological qualification for people in a situation of refuge, aiming at their insertion in the Brazilian labor market.
According to the schedule of activities, the workshop will take place on January 26 and will be open to the general public, in an online format through the Microsoft Reactor platform. With the participation of experts from IFC in the areas of E&S and Corporate Governance, the event seeks to encourage the public to think about ESG issues, which, more than a market trend, are a change in mentality that will define the future of business.
As part of the second front of the partnership, from March to November 2021, IFC specialists will offer a training program to the executives of the ventures of the WE Ventures fund, an initiative of Women Entrepreneurship (WE), a project created by Microsoft Participações in partnership with Sebrae Nacional and M8 Partners (in association with Bertha Capital). The workshops aim to transmit technical knowledge and promote exchange of experiences for the improvement of the business management model and the expansion of startups’ future recruitment opportunities. Support materials will also be shared and interactions will be promoted between the entrepreneurs, the IFC team and their invited speakers. The sessions may be accompanied by female entrepreneurs by registering on the Microsoft Reactor platform. Additionally,fund website. [/url"Supporting the growth of small and medium-sized companies and female entrepreneurship is an important component of IFC’s strategy to stimulate inclusive economic growth in Brazil", comments Carlos Leiria Pinto, IFC’s general manager in Brazil . "This partnership with Microsoft is very welcome to advance the development of these sectors, and also to demonstrate that gender diversity and the strengthening of female leadership are important drivers of sustainable business", adds Carlos. "Encouraging female entrepreneurship in the country has been the purpose of WE Ventures since its launch in November 2019. There is a gap in the number of women entrepreneurs in the country in relation to the number of men, and it is important to look at this scenario with great intentionality. Through the partnership with IFC, we will take another step towards social and economic change, enabling women, especially in the technology sector, a segment historically dominated by men, to conquer more opportunities ", comments Franklin M. Luz Jr ., vice president of Innovation, Transformation and New Business at Microsoft Brazil .
The partnership also aims to expand opportunities for people in a situation of refuge in the Brazilian labor market, especially in the technology sector. The program seeks to better qualify professionals by offering a set of technological training courses defined by IFC and Microsoft that will be made available to this audience through Microsoft’s learning platforms. The selection of courses on the learning trail is under development and new information will be released soon.
The partnership with IFC is another initiative of the Mais WE program, which will include a series of investments in different areas of the economy such as technology, health, education, insurance, legal and sustainability. Mais WE is part of Microsoft’s commitment to promote Diversity and Inclusion through technology and is part of the Microsoft Mais Brasil plan, launched by the company in October, covering support initiatives and commitment to the country’s sustainable economic development and encompassing sustainability programs , professional qualification and search for job opportunities, in addition to expanding Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure in Brazil.
IFC has been investing in the Brazilian private sector since 1957 to address the country’s main development challenges, including those of urbanization, social inclusion, competitiveness and productivity, and management of natural resources. In fiscal year 2020, IFC’s long-term investments in Brazil, across all sectors, totaled $ 2.2 billion, including $ 615 million in third-party fundraising.
About IFC
IFC - the World Bank Group organization - is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. We work in more than 100 countries, using our capital, technical knowledge and influence to create markets and generate opportunities in developing countries. In fiscal 2020, we invested $ 22 billion in private companies and financial institutions in developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to eradicate extreme poverty and increase shared prosperity. For more information, visit [url=http://www.ifc.org/]www.ifc.org .
About Microsoft
Microsoft enables digital transformation in the era of the smart cloud and the smart frontier. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. The company has been in Brazil for 31 years and is one of 120 subsidiaries of Microsoft Corporation, founded in 1975. In 2019, the company invested more than R $ 48 million bringing technology for free to 2,038 NGOs in Brazil, benefiting several social projects. Since 2011, Microsoft has supported more than 7,100 startups in Brazil through donations of more than $ 200 million in cloud credits. Stay tuned www.ifc.org/lac
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