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E01 - Carmen Correa, CEO of Pro Mujer
105 Plays2 months ago
In this episode of Women Changing Finance, host Krisztina Tora speaks with Carmen Correa, CEO of Pro Mujer, a pioneering social enterprise dedicated to advancing gender equality in Latin America. With over 30 years of experience in sustainable development, Carmen shares her insights on the impact of gender-lens investing and the challenges women face in accessing finance. She discusses the significant progress being made in Latin America, including the rise of gender bonds and innovative financial instruments designed to support women entrepreneurs. Tune in to discover how Carmen and her team are transforming lives and driving change in their communities, inspiring a new wave of investors to look towards Latin America for impactful opportunities.
Please review the episode, share your feedback and subscribe to the podcast!
You can also:
- Visit our website: womenchangingfinance.org
- Follow Carmen on LinkedIn
- Read Carmen's full bio
To go further, here are some of the references mentioned by Carmen during the episode:
- Pro Mujer https://promujer.org/portal/
- Pro Mujer's First Gender Bond https://promujer.org/en/blog/pro-mujer-issues-first-gender-bond-in-argentina/
- IDB Lab https://bidlab.org/en
- UN Women & Luxembourg Stock Exchange case study about Pro Mujer’s Gender Bond https://www.unwomen.org/sites/default/files/2024-03/case-study-series-innovative-financing-for-gender-equality-via-bonds-argentina-en.pdf
- Endeavor https://endeavor.org/
- Fundación Avina https://www.avina.net/en/home/
- Ellas Emprenden, book by Pro Mujer https://promujer.org/portal/2023/11/19/pro-mujer-publishes-first-book-she-ventures-stories-of-latin-american-women/
- Impact, by Sir Ronald Cohen https://www.impactrevolution.com/
- GLI Forum https://gliforumlatam.com/en/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Women Changing Finance
00:00:05
Speaker
Hi, welcome to the podcast Women Changing Finance, where you will discover amazing women from all around the world who are making finance become a force for good.
00:00:20
Speaker
Welcome to the podcast, Women Changing Finance.
Meet Carmen Correa, CEO of Promujer
00:00:23
Speaker
I'm Krisztina Tora, and I'm welcoming today Carmen Correa, CEO of Promujer, a social enterprise working to advance gender equality in Latin America. Carmen is based in Uruguay, and she has more than 30 years of experience in driving sustainable development in Latin America.
00:00:42
Speaker
I met Carmen as part of my current role a couple years back, and I've been very inspired by her thoughtfulness, her kindness, her humility, why she manages and leads super ambitious large scale transformations helping women in Latin in America. I'm really excited to have her on the show so that she can share with us her journey and insights.
00:01:04
Speaker
Welcome Carmen. Thank you Krisztina Thank you so much for being here.
Impact Investment in Latin America: Progress and Challenges
00:01:10
Speaker
So before we go into your journey and your work, I would really love you to share with the audience what you are seeing in the ecosystem, where you're based or where you work. Perhaps you can look at Latin America as a whole.
00:01:24
Speaker
So it would be really um interesting to hear from you, what are the trends? To what extent are you seeing progress happening? How easy or how hard is it to to lead social and environmental change? Thank you very much, Krisztina for inviting me to this space. I'm really excited to be here. And when it comes to impact investment as a whole, and when we dip down into gender lens investing, investing with a gender lens,
00:01:54
Speaker
Actually, we have seen some progress in Latin America, but there is much to be done. We have some countries like bra Brazil, Mexico, that they have advanced a lot on impact investment.
Barriers to Women's Financial Access
00:02:07
Speaker
But actually, other countries in the region, they are lacking access to impact investment and this type of investment as a whole. So there is a quite difference in between countries.
00:02:21
Speaker
We need to actually address that. We need to move forward. Access to finance is so often highlighted as main barriers faced by women in the region. That is why we are trying to give women access to the needed finance. We have seen that actually the instruments we have in place in Latin America in some cases are not the appropriate ones. We have seen a development of different type of financial instruments that are allowing the access to the needed finance and allowing investors to be attracted
00:03:01
Speaker
to come into Latin America. But there is much to be
Growth of Gender Lens Investing
00:03:06
Speaker
done. Actually, we we have seen that VCs and private equity industry are still very young in the region, but they are growing. They are growing and growing very fast.
00:03:19
Speaker
We have to keep up with that growth. Gender awareness currently is fairly low in Latin America. That is why from Promujer we are trying to promote gender lens investing. We need also the investment industry to bring in more investors, more and more diverse investor We need impact investors to be looking into the opportunities that they can find in Latin America. So if we see Latin America prior to, I will say, 2018, there have been funds in Latin America with very specific Quantified Gender mandate to support women, but they haven't been very
00:04:10
Speaker
successful at the beginning, but right now we have seen that there has been much progress and new funds have been establishing. And when we talk about gender specifically, we have seen that funds are incorporated as a gender perspective in their investment process. so We are hopeful that we will start seeing more changes in the near future. I think that there are fans already in place doing a great job with great examples with ah actually great impact.
00:04:50
Speaker
And we will keep seeing these funds advancing in Latin America, beyond bra Brazil, beyond Mexico, beyond Colombia also, because Brazil, Colombia, Mexico are the most advanced ones, but we will keep seeing a progress in that regard.
What is Gender Lens Investing?
00:05:09
Speaker
Awesome. I appreciate the distinctions that you made between funds that are specifically dedicated for gender lens investing and other funds that are starting slowly to incorporate a gender perspective within their broader mandate. Perhaps a kind of a follow-on question on your excellent description.
00:05:30
Speaker
Will you be able to describe gender lens investing from your perspective at Promoucher? What do you do? What do you see in terms of gender lens investing in Latin America? And maybe perhaps if you see it being slightly different from other regions in the world.
00:05:48
Speaker
Well, a t um ProMujer we have been working in Latin America for more than 33 years now, basically trying to close the gender gap.
Issuing the First Gender Bond in Argentina
00:06:00
Speaker
So as an organization, as a social enterprise, we have been investing in women from the very beginning,
00:06:08
Speaker
with financial services, with health and education, given access, especially and basically low-income women access to all these services. So from the very beginning, and we have been investing with a gender perspective.
00:06:24
Speaker
We have seen most of the microfinance institutions in Latin America incorporating from the start the gender perspective, but we haven't seen much funds when we start operation 30 years ago. So that is what the change we have seen. And we have seen also the development of new financial instruments such as the Gender bonds in Latin America. We have in place various bonds in Latin America and actually Promujer also deployed last year a Gender bond in Argentina. This was the first Gender bond
00:07:07
Speaker
issued by a non-traditional financial institution such as Promujer we opened the door to other social enterprises to follow us in accessing the capital market. So that was quite a change and we also democratized the access to anyone who wants to invest in a gender bond to do so, because any individual who wants to in invest in this gender bond issued by Promujer Argentina can do an investment. so
00:07:41
Speaker
Those are the type of changes that we want to keep promoting. The development of financial instruments that can attract others to be following Promujer and deploying these instruments and actually investing with a gender Lens. We keep updating ourselves in the development of new products on new services to actually serve the needs of the women in Latin America, the needs have changed. The needs that women have today are very different to the needs that women used to have 30 years ago. I'm always stating that 30 years ago, we didn't even have access to, not almost even have access to the internet, so digital education wasn't needed.
00:08:30
Speaker
Today is very much needed. With that, we can also give ah access to different financial instruments through different platforms that we put in place. So we have to keep updating ourselves on the instruments that can allow women to access the needed finance to develop their businesses and that is what we are trying and we are trying to also communicate and share with others our knowledge and actually the is the how we are structuring these instruments so others can also be motivated to develop their own financial instruments to reach more women.
00:09:12
Speaker
Thanks, Carmen. I have a lot of questions. I guess the first will be still to keep on this Latin American kind of a description. You mentioned gender bonds. Latin America is the leading region in issuing gender bonds. Can you tell us a bit more about your views on why is that?
00:09:32
Speaker
Basically, I think that is ah because we have financial institutions in Latin America trying to also keep up with the needs of women to access finance. So as you said, we are the region with more gender bonds issue.
Success Stories from Gender Bonds
00:09:52
Speaker
We have Banco Del Estado in Chile, we have Bancoldex, we have the IDB invest cap has been behind.
00:10:00
Speaker
Most, if not all, of these gender bonds, the Davivienda, also in Colombia, they issue a major gender bond. So we have very big financial institutions that have been able to deploy these bonds in Latin America.
00:10:16
Speaker
And I think that it's because they have seen there is a potential. There is a need, not covered need. We have to take us in consideration that today in Latin America, more than 70% of women entrepreneur entrepreneurs don't have access to the needed finance and If you think that that is an opportunity of investment of more than 93 billion dollars, of course you will have to think, okay, which are the instruments that will allow us to invest in those women? So I think that is one of the main reasons why these gender bonds have been issued, and I celebrate that it's happening. So what we need also to think is beyond these gender bonds, which other instruments are needed to give women access to the needed finance.
00:11:11
Speaker
Absolutely. And the second question I wanted to ask you is also around something you mentioned is f ProMujer has been the first non-traditional actor to raise ah such a bond in Argentina. I have to say it's quite rare to see NGOs or social enterprises raise these bonds today.
00:11:32
Speaker
especially in emerging markets. So it's something that we've been advocating for, but you know it's still quite rare and pioneering. So can you share with others who might be inspired by your example how you got there, what it took, what was the maybe changes that you had to do internally or what are the changes that you had to do in terms of policy or anything else that you made happen ah so that you could issue this first bond?
00:12:01
Speaker
As you said, Krisztina, it wasn't easy. We encountered various challenges because actually we didn't align precisely with any existing regulations. So what we start doing is working with a regulator.
00:12:18
Speaker
we start working with the CNV, the Commission Nacional de Valores in Argentina, in order to see if it was if there was a possibility of adapting the the regulation itself, of incorporating in the regulation the possibility of a social enterprise such as Promujer to be issuing a gender bond. so That was quite a negotiation. That was quite a work on itself. It took us a year of conversations going back and forth with a regulator, but the regulator was open to this change. And also, you had to find that counterpart and that regulator open to make necessary changes to actually give
00:13:11
Speaker
access to such as an organization, such as Promujer to the capital market. So that was the first thing. So it took us a year to actually work with the regulator, show the regulator the need and the impact this type of bonds could generate in the economy itself.
00:13:33
Speaker
Because what we have to be very clear is that what we are trying to achieve is to generate a real impact in the economy of the country itself. So with that, in showcasing the impact we could generate with the bond itself, how many women we could reach if we issued this gender bond, we were able to change the regulation and allow a social enterprise such as Promujer to access the capital market.
Expanding Gender Bonds Internationally
00:14:03
Speaker
Today, other social enterprises can access the capital markets as we did. So that was the first thing. The other thing was to bring in financial institutions that actually could guarantee this gender bond
00:14:19
Speaker
and work with us in the structuring of this gender bond. So we developed a tailor-made product back by top tier banks in Argentina. So behind us we did Actually, we have the commitment of the mayor and in actually the main banks in Argentina. So this socially labeled bond was what we were proposing was a gender bond very traceable on its impact and that was able also to address
00:15:00
Speaker
the raising demand for environmental, for social and governance funds in Argentina and at the regional level too. the outcome as you have seen a success not only evident in the reception of our inaugural bond issues but furthermore highlighted by our following larger issues because we did issue two bonds in Argentina last year
00:15:31
Speaker
And with the second bond, interesting for us and what we observed actually, it was a significant diversification in our investor base. So in the first one,
00:15:46
Speaker
when we did the first issuance, basically the banks were the ones dominating the investment. In the second issuance, interesting, we saw a threefold increase of individuals, investors coming in. So, and we were very happy about that. And that is why we can today say that we democratize the access to this type of instrument.
00:16:16
Speaker
And this bond actually, as said, is quite a case, and actually is today a case of study because we were able to make a real change, not only in the regulation itself, but on how these funds can be accessed by the general public. So this shift not only indicates the diversification, but also highlights
00:16:47
Speaker
the interest of the general public in this type of impact investment. So we are very happy about that. We are celebrating that we were able to issue this bond. We are actually working in the structuring of a gender bond in other countries where we have presence and we hope by the end of the year, the year we have some news around that.
00:17:18
Speaker
really exciting and yeah, big success that we we want to replicate. I have two questions ah just kind of following on what you said. The first is ah you said that more individuals, ah like three times more individuals subscribe to the second one, which is really amazing. I imagine that those individuals were from Latin America itself.
00:17:42
Speaker
Yes, they were from Latin America. okay so And actually in the case of this, born specifically from Argentina. Okay, so it shows that there is kind of a sense, how to say, crystallizing the appetite and the ability of people to invest in something innovative that has a lot of impact.
00:18:05
Speaker
My second question was, I saw that you listed one of the bonds in the stock market of Luxembourg. Can you tell us more about why and how that happened and what that allows you to do?
00:18:17
Speaker
Yes, of course. Basically, when we issue the the bond itself and and when we get the word out about the issuance of this bond, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange approaches with the idea of listing this bond in there actually their stock exchange. So with that,
00:18:40
Speaker
that it was a very good opportunity to give visibility to these type of instruments that are being developed in Latin in America in order to attract other investors, other investors that could be thinking, okay, let's take a look on what is going on in Latin America, and maybe there is an opportunity for them to be investing here. So yes,
00:19:05
Speaker
the Luxembourg Stock Exchange offered Promujer the possibility of listing the bond. We thought it was a very good opportunity to give visibility not only to the bond itself of Pramukhar, but to the opportunities that you are seeing at the regional level. And that was mainly the reason why we listed the bond.
00:19:30
Speaker
On a second stage in the future, maybe beyond listing the bond, we may think on listing the bond, but also looking into some potential transactions in the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. That requires a different procedure, but in the future, that could be also a possibility. And I think Again, we were opening the doors to other institutions and to other financial instruments being developed in Latin America to be listed in this stock exchange that are beyond the regional level and that are also very open
00:20:11
Speaker
to give visibility to this type of instruments. So we are very happy with that. And of course, also we deployed with the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, a case study also with you and women that came out in March, this past March. So yeah.
00:20:31
Speaker
Amazing. So we talked about, I would say, the supply, so how you got the capital and and what happened there. Let's talk for a second about what it serves to do. One of the things that I really appreciate in this this structure that you did and the the bond and the work that you're doing is what you're mentioning is it's traceable. It really goes towards creating impact.
00:20:57
Speaker
You know that if you give an investment to this bond, ah if you invest in this bond, then it actually goes to the women that will need it, which is you know a debate about the bond market and the sustainability and other kinds of bonds is, are we sure really that it goes to the real impact? So can you tell us more about how you're using the money concretely in your projects?
Improving Lives with Gender Bonds
00:21:23
Speaker
Yes, of course.
00:21:24
Speaker
Basically, the money allowed us to finance the women in Argentina. So with the first gender bond, we were able to reach 1,429 women entrepreneurs in Argentina. Basically, with the first c gender bond that it was 200 million pesos in Argentina, at that moment,
00:21:51
Speaker
it was $1 million. dollars And the average loan given to each of these women was 140,000 pesos. So yes, with the first issue of the bond, with the first bond, actually, we were able to reach 1,429 women entrepreneur entrepreneurs in Argentina, that they were distributed by location. So they were in Tucuman, in Salta and Jujuy
00:22:21
Speaker
Most of these loans were deployed under what is communal banking, and most of them, we can as we can trace them, as you said, most of them were basically, and we know the sectors where they end up being working these women, we know the also how they were able to participate in our educational programs, financial educational programs. We know also the amount of shops that they were able to create. And we know also that the default rate was very low. So actually was zero. So we were able to trace
00:23:10
Speaker
each of these loans, the first bond is already closed. We are ah still in the process with the second bond that it will close in September this year. These bonds were for only 12 months. Actually, the second bond was reaching 1,363 beneficiaries In that case, the bond, it was also a median dollars. But in that case, in Argentine pesos, it was 370 million pesos. And the average loan, in the case of the second loan, it was of around 260,000 pesos each loan. And as said, it benefited 1,363 women entrepreneurs.
00:24:03
Speaker
So in each of the bonds, we are able to trace the sectors where they are involved. We are able to trace also so the location. We are able to trace also the amount of shop created by each of these women entrepreneurs. And we know very well where they are investing the money that they are receiving.
00:24:26
Speaker
That's really impressive and super impactful in the sense that it goes in a very granular way right to each and every geography, each and every community that we needed. So thank you so much, Carmen, for describing and actually jumping right into describing the the work that you're doing, the very innovative work that you're doing.
Carmen's Career Path to Promujer
00:24:48
Speaker
You have been one of the pioneers in impact investment in Latin America. You're running this amazing organization called Pr OMujer. Can you tell us how you got here? What's your journey? Were there any pivotal moments in your life or in your career that you can tell us about? Yes, of course. Well, I think I have very and many pivotal moments in in my career.
00:25:14
Speaker
I started in Promujer seven years ago. Basically, yeah I joined Promujer in the Partnerships and Development Department. After a few years, I took over as CEO, and then I have been as appointed as CEO. Before that, as you said, I have more than 30 years of experience in different positions in in different organizations. I started my career at the Organization of the American States here in Uruguay. And I work also at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington DC, the IDB. So I live seven years abroad, but
00:25:58
Speaker
After it seven years living in in Washington DC, I felt I desired to come back. I wanted to come back actually and be much closer to where the projects are actually taking place, where things are taking place. And I wanted to come back to to my country. So therefore I decided to come back, to be closer to the cause.
00:26:26
Speaker
And I started working in deremate.com. At that moment, it was 1999, the internet bubble. So it was the best place where everybody wanted to be. And I learned a lot. deremate.com is what it's today. Actually, deremate ended up being bought by Mercado Libre, the eBay of Latin America. So it was very interesting because It was a moment where we were running to place ah a flag in each of the countries, in each of the Latin American countries. It was building something completely new during the rise of the internet. It was fun. It was very stressful, but it was a lot of fun and a lot of learning because it was really being on the entrepreneurial side, running a race,
00:27:24
Speaker
and trying to grow as fast as possible. I also did have the opportunity to bring with ah two colleagues Endeavor into Uruguay. Endeavor, as you know, it's a very big organization supporting high-impact entrepreneur entrepreneurs.
00:27:42
Speaker
This was also a fantastic experience because the organization was boosting actually the change in the entrepreneurial system, in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. So we had, we we begin with the operation It was actually the third office open by endeavor at the global level. We began by explaining concepts such as, what is an entrepreneur? Because back in in those days, 2000, the term was not even
00:28:17
Speaker
as known and widespread as it is today. So it was a fantastic also experience. I get also access to not only get to know very well-known entrepreneurs, but also it was kind of organizing the whole local entrepreneurial ecosystem and creating the whole local entrepreneur entrepreneurial ecosystem here in Uruguay.
00:28:45
Speaker
Once I finished my time at Endeavor, I left the organization and joined Avina Foundation, also a very big regional foundation supporting sustainable development in Latin America.
Promujer's 30-Year Impact
00:29:00
Speaker
I was in charge of the inclusive businesses strategy at the regional level, beyond being in charge of the local representation here.
00:29:11
Speaker
And I also, after a few years, I was kind of thinking, okay, what is my next step? And that is when Promujer comes in. I did get to know Promujer by participating in an event. And I was quite impressed by the work of Promujer. And I applied, I was able to get in, and and basically that is my my journey.
00:29:40
Speaker
I'm very happy about being having the opportunity to lead such a great organization. Basically, we are trying to keep up with the the challenges and the opportunities also that we have it's seen in at the regional level. As you know, Promujer has been operating in, we have presence, physical presence in five countries in Latin America. We have presence in Bolivia, where we were born, but also in Argentina, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua. We have deployed more than $4.4 billion dollars in the 30 years in very small loans that are on average are $1,000. We have impacted the life of more than 2.5 million women, and we have deployed more than 10 million health services. So we have a lot to be done yet, but we have a great impact to showcase already.
00:30:41
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. Something to be quite proud of, even if still a lot has to be done. And so perhaps that's a ah perfect bridge to to my next question, Carmen. I think that sometimes as women, we don't stop to celebrate success and we you know run on to doing the next thing because we are so passionate about delivering change. So what are the things that you're most proud of at any point in time in in in this journey?
00:31:11
Speaker
One of the things I am more proud of is my family. As a woman, it's my family. i i was Actually, I'm married, I have three kids, so I was able to manage all the that balance in between the shop and the positions I was able to for fulfill and to lead and the family.
00:31:40
Speaker
So that is one of my main successes. And that is something that I'm always sharing with other colleagues and with other women. You can do it. You have to organize ah yourself. That is not a doubt. But it's something that you can achieve. You can achieve that balance in between your job and your family. And basically, other things and that I really recognize a kind of success is that I really enjoy what I do and that is also my definition of success. You have to really enjoy what you do. I think that success relates also basically to happiness and everyone has to kind of define happiness for itself
00:32:33
Speaker
For me, it's doing what I love. And that is out how i I feel. And I'm very happy of what I have achieved during all these years of my career. I was able to actually fulfill key positions, but to bring in also and to be working with amazing teams.
00:32:56
Speaker
So for me, having amazing teams behind is also something that you have to to have in order to succeed. And that is what I'm always trying to build. Teams that can share with you not only your values, but can share with you also the the path and can actually walk with you and and actually achieve the objectives of the organization, achieve the objectives of the strategies you you establish. So that for me are the the main and key things.
00:33:33
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. It's a collaborative effort always.
Achieving Work-Life Balance
00:33:37
Speaker
Something that you do with others and having good teams is so important. You touched on on your family, so thank you for for doing that. You mentioned that you touched on it only a little bit, is work-life balance, and do you have any tips for the audience about how to manage that best?
00:33:57
Speaker
Well, you have to to find, of course, your family has to be completely aligned on and actually share with you what you want to to achieve. And of course, they will have to kind of be also very well aware of what a position, whatever position you are in, implies. so For example, in my case, that balance you have to and you need, it's something that, of course, you will have to set also. You will have to set the limits. You will have to set the limits of your work and you will have to also define the limits when it comes to family issues. so
00:34:46
Speaker
In that regard, it there is always work to be done. But at some point, you will have to end the day. At some point, you will have to give the time for family issues. At some point, you will have to give time to work issues. So it's kind of finding that needed balance and you have to put the limits. You have to put the limits in both ways. And you have also to be very open. I'm always stating,
00:35:14
Speaker
I don't have to be the mom that has to go to a doctor to be a good mom, or I know i don't have to be the mom that has to go to each school event to be a good mom. But of course, there are certain events that I want to be. There are certain moments that I want to be. But in other moments, for me, it would be the same if my husband is the one attending, it's my probably my mother or my mother-in-law is attending. So you have also to be kind of open and delegate some things at work level and at the family level.
00:35:54
Speaker
Yeah, it's always a question of balance in the end, right? Anything else that keeps you or that makes you be your best self every day? I think that something that always scares me is kind of staying quiet. Now, i am I don't like to be in difference. I think that I'm always trying to be on the move. And if I have to kind of be Active, it's where I want to be. That is being quiet. It's not what I look forward to. It's kind of, I like to be active. I like to be on the move. I don't like, and I will speak up if I see injustices. And of course, that is basically where where you will see me. So yeah, basically that is what I would like to to be.
00:36:55
Speaker
Yeah. And thank you because we're catching you between two flights. So thank you for making the time. Is there, I mean, more seriously, you you it's really important to speak up and have the courage to do that. So I appreciate what you're saying. Is there anything specific today that is really bothering you or concerning you?
Dedication to Gender Equality and Future Outlook
00:37:18
Speaker
I'm very happy and and I'm basically grateful for being working for gender equality in Latin America. I think that there is tons to be done yet. I must admit that some days there I feel like kind of, okay, there is too much to be done. But it's something that we have to keep working. We have to keep working on closing those gender gaps.
00:37:47
Speaker
I'm very happy to be doing so. And fortunately, I'm one of the persons that get to meet these women that are improving their ways of living, that are those women that are adapting themselves to the different challenges they are facing day by day. I learn from the women's we serve every day. And that is something that I value the most, but it also awards me that there is still a lot of work to be done in Latin America. So I'm very happy with the work we are doing. I'm very happy that we are able to be reaching communities, areas that
00:38:36
Speaker
where inequality is really very big. But on the other side, I know that we have to bring in more support. We have to bring in more organizations working and partnering with Pramukhar to actually give an answer and give the needed support to these women. So that is what I look forward to, and that is what I'm trying to to be accomplishing, bringing in more finance, bringing in more investors into Latin America, bringing in more organizations to be working side by side with Promujer, partnering with Promujer to actually fulfill all these needs that we are foreseeing in the region.
00:39:26
Speaker
Thanks, Carmen. And, the well, on the opposite side, my next question is, what keeps you optimistic or hopeful? Well, I think that we have, as it was shared, we have seen that there is progress. We have seen that there is also new, in our case, new financial instruments, new health services, new ways of giving access to education. So I'm very optimistic on what we have achieved, not only as Pro Mujer, but as a regional level, how we have been progressing. I'm ah optimistic that, of course, there are various organizations working in the region, in Latin America,
00:40:19
Speaker
to close this gender gap. And yes, I'm very optimistic that in the near future, we will keep seeing new ways of improving the life of of women, improving how we are reaching women entrepreneurs and giving them access to the native finance. So I'm optimistic. I'm very optimistic. I think that we have seen progress and we will keep seeing progress in Latin America.
00:40:47
Speaker
And who or what is inspiring you? What inspires me the most are the women out there we serve. What inspires me the most are to get to know those stories of women that they are the ones out there every day trying to generate an income for their families. They are the ones kind of adapting themselves to the changes. They are the ones actually looking into and different ways of doing. Those are the women that inspire me the most.
00:41:23
Speaker
And perhaps you have one or two stories that have i don't know inspired you particularly or touched you particularly? We have many stories. I would say we have thousands of stories of women that have improved their lives.
00:41:42
Speaker
With the gender bond, actually, we have a very beautiful story. It's Augustina from Salta from Argentina. So she sells food. She cooks every day herself. These products were made basically with with recipes from from her family that came down through generations. And The support we gave him, the loan we gave her, actually allowed her to support her family, but also to give her the opportunity to expand her kitchen, to buy the needed materials. So those are the type of stories
00:42:25
Speaker
we see every day. In another case, Maria from Nicaragua, also, so when I get the chance to visit her, she told me, well, that the chair you're sitting, it was I was able to buy the chairs for my my house because the loan you gave me allowed me to start selling much more products. So Those are the type of stories that we see every day. We launched a beautiful book last year. Ellas Em prenden and It has more than 16 stories, but as those 16s, we have thousands of stories out there.
00:43:07
Speaker
But yes, we want to get the word out there. We want to share much more the stories of women that are actually improving their quality of life, women that are advancing, women that are changing the reality of their families, the reality of their communities, and they are generating a huge impact in the local economies. And if you add on that, you are generating a huge impact in the economies of the countries. So we look very much forward to have more of these stories, more of these changes coming in, and that is basically
00:43:53
Speaker
what we want to to achieve. Thanks Carmen, that's really beautiful and it really kind of anchors us in the reality of the change that is happening. So thank you for
Recommended Readings and Publications
00:44:04
Speaker
sharing. And ah well, I was going to ask you if you have any, if you're reading anything or any books to recommend, I'm ah going to put the the link towards ah the book that you just mentioned, Ellass prenden Any other recommendations on readings for the audience? Well, there there are various readings
00:44:25
Speaker
The last one i I was reading is this one and I did have access to this book by you and this is the last one I read so I really like um recommend this one and of course it's also in English this version I have it's in Spanish but this is a ah great book if you want to learn more about impact investment.
00:44:52
Speaker
It's true. OK, well, you've done the the advertising for for Ronnie's book. I will put the link to. Thank you so much. So it's time to conclude. I would like to ask you if you have any final recommendations, insights for the audience, tips or actually maybe call to actions to the to the audience as we finish this recording. As a call to action, I would like ah to request to investors, funders, and people in general to be looking into Latin America. I think Latin America has tons of opportunities. Latin America, it's a region with lots of inequalities. It's one of the most diverse regions in the world. And there is a huge need yet to be covered. So I request
00:45:48
Speaker
Funders, investors to be looking into the opportunities that you have in Latin America and basically also to foresee the changes that could be achieved if that investment comes in. So that that would be my call of action and and basically my request to people out there.
00:46:13
Speaker
Awesome. And you are definitely demonstrating that it's possible to do really high impact projects with ah great ah investments. So thank you. Thank you so much Carmen for being such a an inspiring pioneer and change maker, change leader in Latin America and and for us in the world.
00:46:35
Speaker
Thank you for your at time today and yeah wishing you all the best for your next travels. and yeah we'll We'll follow closely the adventures of Promu jer in the notes of the podcast, other links to your work. so Thank you again so much, Carmen.
00:46:54
Speaker
Thank you very much, Krisztina. It was a pleasure to be here today. And of course, we will have to also keep working as a group, as a team with you and with other also inspiring women out there working in this field. So thank you very much for the invitation. Thank you. Thank you, Carmen. Bye bye.
00:47:20
Speaker
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