In the late ’90s, when I ran an e-learning company in Singapore, I felt an intense drive to bridge the digital divide through education. We operated on a cross-subsidy model, channelling profits earned from corporate clients into initiatives targeting emerging markets. My background in law and policy and a passion for international development from my time at the UN propelled me into this venture. However, I soon discovered a significant gap in my business acumen.
At that time, Singapore’s entrepreneurial ecosystem was underdeveloped. I learned the hard way—through trial and error. While I was committed to keeping operations lean, my understanding of financial management was rudimentary. During tax season, I would hand a bag of receipts to my accountant, who prepared our financial statements. This historical approach meant we often lacked the insights necessary for effective planning. Though I had excelled in accounting during law school, that theoretical knowledge was far from enough. It took time for me to realise that a sale to a customer does not equal cash in the bank. Understanding cash flow management could have fundamentally changed how I ran the business and approached potential investors.
My experiences in Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States eventually took me to Indonesia, where I encountered many women-led entrepreneurs—particularly those with a social mission—facing similar struggles. While volunteering and mentoring women entrepreneurs in Indonesia through Unltd Indonesia and the Rotary Club, I observed the gap women-led companies face in emerging markets. Their passion for societal impact was often underpinned by insufficient business and financial skills. Recognising this gap, I founded Angels of Impact to offer loans and business tools dedicated to addressing the funding gap and building their creditworthiness, thereby overcoming unconscious biases faced by women-led social enterprises. We believe empowering women entrepreneurs fosters economic growth and leads to sustainable societal change.
The hidden backbone
Women in Nepal make up around 75% of the agricultural workforce, according to 2019 World Bank data. However, their contributions are often unpaid or underpaid, with little access to legal protections or social security. This lack of recognition exacerbates poverty and hinders their economic empowerment, leaving them vulnerable.
Photo: Nick Fox / Alamy Stock Photo
Globally, one in ten women lives in extreme poverty, largely due to limited access to sustainable livelihoods.
IMPACT OF WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP ON THE ECONOMY
Globally, one in ten women lives in extreme poverty, largely due to limited access to sustainable livelihoods. The International Labor Organization (ILO) reports that women’s global labour force participation is under 47%, compared to 72% for men.1 This stark disparity underscores systemic biases and broader socio-economic barriers. The World Bank estimates that closing the gender gap in employment and entrepreneurship could increase global GDP by over 20%.2 Moreover, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) posits that correcting the “misallocation” of women’s talents could significantly boost productivity. 3
In the Global Leadership Forecast 2018,4 research demonstrated that organisations with as little as 30% women in leadership are 1.4 times more likely to have sustained profitable growth. Women reinvest as much as 90% of their earnings into their communities, resulting in improved health, education, and sustainability outcomes.5 The evidence is clear: fostering women’s entrepreneurship benefits not only individuals but also societies and economies at large.
Yet, many aspiring women entrepreneurs lack formal business training, particularly those addressing pressing societal issues. While their passion for change is commendable, they often lack financial literacy, which leaves their innovative ideas underfunded and unrealised. On top of that, nearly 100 countries impose restrictions hindering women’s entrepreneurship, from accessing credit to signing contracts, perpetuating cycles of poverty and marginalisation, according to the World Bank Group.6
From home to workforce
The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that reducing Indonesia’s gender gap in labour force participation by 25% by 2025 could boost the economy by approximately USD 216.2 billion. This would involve increasing female participation rates by 8.2 percentage points, adding about 8.6 million women to the labour force.
Photo: Acelya Aksunkur / Alamy Stock Photo
Providing technical assistance for female entrepreneurs to acquire financial literacy while strengthening their confidence, resilience and risk propensity is vital to their empowerment and success.7
Women reinvest as much as 90% of their earnings into their communities, resulting in improved health, education, and sustainability outcomes.
ANGELS OF IMPACT AND OUR WISE PROGRAMME
Founded in 2016, Angels of Impact is a not-for-profit enterprise that invests in women-led, community-based, and sustainable enterprises to help create a more equitable and sustainable world. With public and private partners, we move the needle in stewarding philanthropic dollars toward a new form of inclusive finance and capacity building for women who support others and the planet. Through low-cost loans and capacity building, we aim to develop the creditworthiness of women entrepreneurs so they can ultimately access more traditional funding sources to grow sustainably over the long term.
Our flagship initiative, the Women Impacting Social Entrepreneurship (WISE) programme, equips women entrepreneurs with practical financial knowledge and tools. Each enterprise is paired with relevant field experts who guide the entrepreneur in developing tailored work plans and provide hands-on training in accounting, cash flow management, and revenue projection. This approach ensures women are not only educated but also empowered to apply their skills effectively.
The WISE Programme strengthens operations, strategies, and impacts to ensure the long-term sustainability of women-led enterprises. Its capacity-building services help women entrepreneurs understand their target markets, improve product and service design, and enhance impact measurement and management systems. The programme also focuses on developing talent and deriving insights into low-income markets, supporting women entrepreneurs in creating inclusive products and services that drive social impact.
We aim to develop the creditworthiness of women entrepreneurs so they can ultimately access more traditional funding sources to grow sustainably over the long term.
A critical feature of WISE is its customisation. Recognising that each enterprise faces unique challenges, we provide personalised guidance and mentorship. At the end of the programme, participants have the opportunity to apply for funding from our Evergreen Fund and connect with potential investors. By pairing education with robust support systems, we create an ecosystem where women can thrive.
Since our inception, we have worked with 35 enterprises across 12 countries (the United States, New Zealand and multiple Southeast Asian countries), impacting over 64,000 lives. In the process, we help to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) #1 (No Poverty), #5 (Gender Equality), #8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), #11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), and #12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Our commitment to building creditworthiness through capacity building has yielded a 100% loan repayment rate, proving that women are sound investments.
In August 2024, Laina Greene and Vivek Sharma, a corporate volunteer from UBS, collaborated to deliver customised business planning and financial literacy training for Flow Folk in Phrae, Thailand. This initiative aimed to empower local communities by enhancing their financial knowledge and equipping them with tools to achieve sustainable business growth.
Photo: Angels of Impact
Case Study 1: Vanntha Ngorn and Color Silk
Vanntha Ngorn is the daughter of a weaver from a rural weaving village in Cambodia. With diminishing ability to sell their weaving, many weavers were forced to look for jobs in faraway factories, splitting up families and plunging them into poverty. Her mother wanted her daughter to have a better life and saved up to send her to a business school in Phnom Penh. On completing her studies, Vanntha wanted to see how she could help get her village out of poverty and preserve the cultural heritage of silk weaving in her town. After winning a business plan competition, she used her prize money to start Color Silk in 2009 to promote traditional Cambodian silk weaving globally while providing fair wages and sustainable livelihoods for local artisans. She was successful initially but soon realised she needed to access funding and build a better business plan to scale her impact.
We met Vanntha at a conference, and when she learned about our WISE programme, she applied to be a part of it. Initially, we helped her mostly with market access, but when she needed funding, we had her enrol in the WISE programme. Through the programme, she was paired with our team and a financial expert to receive financial management and business development training. With the guidance of her mentor and the education she received in the programme, she learned to manage better cash flow, track expenses, and communicate her business case convincingly. Her involvement in a broader community of other women’s enterprises has also led to knowledge exchange and exciting business opportunities among these enterprises. The WISE programme, embedded within a learning community, has been a key to scaling her impact.
Vanntha successfully secured two rounds of funding from Angels of Impact, which she has repaid. The funding enabled her to expand Color Silk’s operations in Cambodia, allowing her to uplift her community more than she could before. She has also empowered artisans in her broader community to move up the value chain by producing finished products such as bags, clothing, and other fashionable goods, in addition to weaving cloth. With the new loans, she expanded her business, provided fair wages to artisans, and revived her entire village.
Color Silk preserves traditional silk weaving while empowering rural women through training and fair wages. Operating in Takeo province, it collaborates with weavers and mulberry farmers, promoting eco-friendly practices like natural dye use. By creating sustainable livelihoods, it uplifts communities, fosters cultural heritage, and promotes gender equality across Cambodia.
Photos: Color Silk
Case Study 2: Bote Central’s Coffee Supply Chain
Bote Central was founded in 2007 by Basil and Vie Reyes, a couple in the Philippines who shared a mission to reduce environmental damage, increase coffee farmers’ income, and overcome gender inequality.
Bote Central introduced the novel idea of village-level coffee processing facilities, which Basil Reyes had invented. Harnessing Filipino ingenuity, a coffee roasting machine designed and built for farmers, women and youth in coffee-producing communities has elevated their position in the coffee value chain and transformed their lives through increased income. Farmers were no longer merely suppliers of quality coffee; they could now run community-based social enterprises. All their equipment and systems are userfriendly and designed with women in mind. These enterprises have helped indigenous people sustain their forest communities—the coffee tree’s natural habitat—thereby simultaneously preserving both indigenous communities and the planet. These indigenous communities became the stewards of the forests, and coffee became a vital component of economic livelihood in forest conservation. As of 2018, Bote Central impacted nearly 5,000 farmers nationwide by converting them into farmer roasters, with approximately half being women.
Many of our decisions were driven by emotion. Learning to work with financial data offers a technical framework for more objective decisionmaking, influencing how we collaborate with farmers to impact them positively.
In 2022, Basil and Vie realised they needed to enhance their business and financial skills to secure external funding and scale their impact. They brought their daughter, Alyanna Reyes, on board as CFO of Bote Central, where she joined her activist parents in the social venture, driven by a desire to assist them in better uplifting their community and securing external funding. The WISE programme matched her with our team and a financial expert to equip her with the skills and knowledge necessary to transform her passion into a viable business model, thereby enhancing her decision-making abilities and the livelihoods of the farmers they support. Alyanna Reyes stated, “The programme gave us a better understanding of our work. Many of our decisions were driven by emotion. Learning to work with financial data offers a technical framework for more objective decision-making, influencing how we collaborate with farmers to impact them positively.” Bote Central has since received two rounds of funding from Angels of Impact and has already repaid one.
Bote Central revitalises the Filipino coffee industry by empowering farmers with direct trade, training, and technology. Providing coffee roasting machines and sustainable practices, it enables farmers to process and sell coffee, ensuring fair compensation. Creating a “coffee chain of happiness,” it fosters economic growth, environmental stewardship, and sustainable, community-driven coffee enterprises nationwide.
Photos: Bote Central
The path to gender equality and economic empowerment lies in education and support, enabling women to break the cycle of poverty and build a brighter future.
Empowering women in education
Women’s enrollment in higher education is rising in Southeast Asia, with countries like Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines seeing women surpass men in university attendance. However, Cambodia and Laos still have low female enrollment, highlighting the need for continued efforts to improve education access for women in these nations.
Photo: BTWImages / Alamy Stock Photo
LOOKING FORWARD
The reality is that many women live in poverty and lack financial freedom compared to their male counterparts. This inequality must be addressed. We can foster resilience and sustainability by concentrating on financial literacy and capacity building—especially for women-led enterprises addressing societal issues. Our ultimate goal is to scale our programmes and collaborate with a regional educational institution to offer online and offline mini-MBA classes. Throughout our programmes, we have discovered that women entrepreneurs are eager to learn from one another and even collaborate on business ventures. Therefore, we also plan to establish a platform for peer learning.
Through the WISE programme, we aspire to see women emerge as leaders and innovators, weaving a more robust and equitable social fabric for all. Ultimately, the path to gender equality and economic empowerment lies in education and support, enabling women to break the cycle of poverty and build a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their communities.
We believe that when women thrive, communities flourish, and society benefits. By bridging the funding gap and fostering financial literacy, we can create a world where every woman has the opportunity to succeed. ∞
LAINA GREENE
Laine Green is the CEO and Founder of Angels of Impact and Senior Adjunct Lecturer at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School. With over 30 years of experience in telecom, clean tech and impact investing, she has worked, lived, and traveled in more than 52 countries. An early female techpreneur in Singapore, Laina founded an e-learning company in 1997 and the Silicon Valley-based consultancy GETIT Inc in 2000. At Angels of Impact, she supports women and indigenous-led enterprises aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals #1 (No Poverty), #5 (Gender Equality) and #12 (Responsible Consumption and Production).
Laina is an alumna of NUS, the Geneva Graduate Institute and Harvard University. She also graduated from executive programmes at Stanford University and Singularity University.
FEBRUARY 2025 | ISSUE 13
MIND THE GAPS; BRIDGING THE GAPS
- “World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends for Women 2018— Global Snapshot.” International Labour Organization, 8 Mar 2018, https://www.ilo.org/publications/world-employment-and-social-outlook-trends-women-2018-%E2%80%93-global-snapshot.
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- “The Global Leadership Forecast 2018.” DDI, www.ddiworld.com/ research/global-leadership-forecast-2018. Accessed 23 Dec 2024.
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