WIN partnerships

Women Into the Network does not work in isolation, partnership working with and through a wide range of organisations is core to WIN’s approach. In the North East WIN holds joint events and activities with other organisations ranging from community-based groups through to local government and private sector players.

WIN was a key member of the Accelerating Women’s Enterprise (AWE) partnership; an EQUAL funded group of leading UK women’s enterprise organisations who developed effective women’s business support throughout the UK. Through this, WIN worked with others promoting the WIN concept and approach to other regions including Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cambridgeshire and to four other countries.

Working in partnership enables WIN to:

• Promote & share best practice
• Give wider coverage of training, support and development
• Host joint events & increase networking opportunities
• Research new ideas and develop policies

Partnerships include

Regional

WIN works collaboratively with many regional organisations in a number of ways, combining efforts to make a real difference to North East business.  Partners include other regional networking/business support organisations such as:

Bridge Club

Service Network

North East Chamber of Commerce

North Northumberland Women's Network

People Into Enterprise

The Entrepreneurs' Forum

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National

Accelerating Women’s Enterprise (AWE)

The Accelerating Women's Enterprise (AWE) Partnership brought together a number of leading agencies operating at the cutting edge of women's enterprise development spanning the English regions.  Together they developed a programme of activities and interventions, which set out to ensure that mainstream business support activities met the needs of excluded groups of women (e.g. ethnic minorities, lone parents, women returners, unemployed and low income women, disabled women, young and third age women and women from deprived rural and urban areas).

WIN are working nationally and internationally, forming and strengthening partnerships and sharing best practice.

Cambridgeshire

East of England Development Agency

Yorkshire

Business Link West Yorkshire                       

Lancashire

Business Link Lancashire

Cumbria

Rural Women's Network

Ireland

WIN Ireland

   

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International

WIN has already forged international partnerships with women in business and support agencies throughout the world ranging from Slovenia to Saudi Arabia and South Africa and has 'spun-out' the WIN approach in four countries.  WIN’s global reach and relevance has been recognised by several awards including recognition of being ‘best practice’ in supporting and promoting women’s business ownership by the European Commission.

Women Entrepreneurs in Europe (WEE) Partnership

The EQUAL transnational partnership, Women Entrepreneurs in Europe, brought together nine national networks from across Europe that focused on the development of women’s enterprise. The partners exchanged, adapted and finally implemented new methodologies designed to support and improve the conditions under which women start and develop their own businesses. 

Croatia

JJ Strossmayer, University of Osijek.  

WIN’s role in the project is to contribute expertise, developed over a number of years, in developing curricula, teaching methods and developing interventions to support female entrepreneurship. Specifically in developing inputs for the Masters in Entrepreneurship Programme, development of a Woman’s Graduate Mentoring Programme (GLEAM) and development of a project similar to the award winning women’s entrepreneurship initiative Women Into the Network (WIN) for the International Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies at the J J Strossmayer University in Osijek.

Slovenia

GIZ PODJETNOST/ZAVOD META 

Working closely with Marta Turk, one of Slovenia's leading women entrepreneurs and business advocates, the Chamber of Commerce and associated Small Business Associations, WIN has developed joint initiatives to support Slovenian women into business.

South Africa

SAWEN (South African Women Entrepreneurs Network).

The establishment of South African Women Entrepreneurs Network (SAWEN) is a reaction to the fact that women entrepreneurs in South Africa continuously face a wide array of obstacles in starting, growing and sustaining their own enterprises. This DTI initiative is a networking forum for individuals and organisations that are committed to the promotion and advancement of women entrepreneurs.

WIN visited South Africa in 2004, delivering workshops on specific WIN practices and identifying common barriers for women entrepreneurs.

Turkey

British Council, Ankara.  

WIN, in partnership with the Active Learning Centre based at the University of Glasgow, has been conducting capacity building work in the GAP region of Turkey as part of a wider Women's Rights Programme. Dinah Bennett has been developing enterprise awareness and development capacity among those who support women in this region.