The Amie (Ambassadors in Malta for Increasing women Entrepreneurs) project, which has been undertaken by five organisations under the under the EU’s Competitiveness & Innovation Programme (CIP), has been promoting female entrepreneurship over the past year and a half, and a stakeholder conference was held last Friday. The 10 ambassadors, all of whom are entrepreneurs, served as role models by telling their own story, as project coordinator Maryrose Francica told Francesca Vella.

The five partner organisations in the project are Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs, Reach Beyond Foundation, Malta Business Bureau, National Council of Women and the Malta Association of Women in Business; they pooled their resources to apply for the project, which is part-funded by the EU.

Maryrose Francica, from the Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs, which is coordinating the project, explained that the main objective of Amie was to promote female entrepreneurship through the establishment of a network of women ambassadors, which is part of the European Network of Women Entrepreneurs.

The 10 Maltese ambassadors act as role models as they inspire other women to become entrepreneurs by telling their own story; their aim is to raise women’s ability to create a vision for themselves as entrepreneurs as well as the required motivation and self-confidence in setting up and creating a successful business.

The partners of the consortium intend to sustain this action once the project draws to a close at the end of November this year.

The activities organised over the past year-and-a-half included talks in eight secondary schools targeting 800 female students aged 13 to 16.

Ms Francica said: “We received a great deal of feedback from students on Facebook and via email, and there was so much interest that we even visited certain schools twice.

“The ideas that students came up with were amazing. A Gozitan girl, for instance, said she wants to open a shop selling clothes for pets because there isn’t one in Gozo. Another girl whose father is a dog breeder wants to set up a dog mating website and she already has ideas for the design of the site.”

The Maltese team was the only one among those from all 27 member states that trained the ambassadors in public speaking, said Ms Francica, saying that training was given by psychologist Katie Birch from Reach Beyond Foundation.

Ms Francica said another talk was given to about 100 prospective business and commerce students (aged 16 to 18) and their parents at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (Mcast) during orientation week.

The Amie team also held a round table discussion with 10 business studies teachers who were in Malta for a Grundtvig in-service training course, set up a stand during the annual general meeting of the Malta Girl Guides Association, and gave a talk to about 150 girl guides aged 13 to 18.

Other interesting activities that the Amie team participated in were the Female Business Café event, organised by the Finance, Investment and Economy Ministry, ‘Enterprise Malta’ during SME week, and the Entrepreneurship through Education Conference, which was attended by more than 100 heads of school and educators.

Ms Francica went on to say that one of the most emotional experiences was a visit to the female section of the Corradino Correctional Facility, where three of the Amie ambassadors met 15 inmates.

Mariella Scicluna, from partner organisation Malta Business Bureau, explained that inmates being one of the most vulnerable groups in society, the aim was to help them prepare themselves for life after they serve their term. Particularly, one of the struggles they face is trying to overcome the stigma as they search for a job.

Ms Francica explained: “The inmates didn’t seem particularly interested in the subject at first, but at a certain point I asked one of them how long her term in prison was and when she said 12 years, I said ‘I envy your time’.

“That somehow seemed to have struck a chord and they started asking some really good questions. We ended up spending three hours with them and encouraged them to set up a cooperative. They will be using their talents and skills to make bags, which they can then sell, and the prison authorities will be setting up a fund for this purpose.”

Ms Francica said that the ambassadors spoke about the hurdles they faced during every activity.

“Sandra Zammit, for instance, has four young children, and still managed to set up her business. We also have ambassadors who are single parents and still succeeded, despite the difficulties.”

Talking about the aspect of risk in entrepreneurship, Ms Francica said: “You definitely have to be a risk-taker. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, but I think it is important for everyone to have an entrepreneurial mindset as employers seek proactive employees.”

The opportunities for funding are there, she said, referring to schemes and programmes such as the BOV Jeremie Financing Package for SMEs, the Microinvest and Business First schemes, as well as EU funding, and organisations such as the Foundation for Women Entrepreneurs offer advice and assistance in this regard.

During the course of the project, the ambassadors also met with women entrepreneurs from other EU member states during networking events organised in Brussels and elsewhere.

The following are some comments from the ambassadors themselves.

Ruth Vella, of Events Club Malta, said the Amie experience served as an excellent opportunity for ambassadors to meet and network with other European women entrepreneurs, share ideas and practices and create new synergies.

“I have also discovered a dynamic group of Maltese women entrepreneurs, understand their business model and how they balance work and family life and appreciate their efforts and sacrifices in building their businesses.”

Mary Gaerty, of Green Skips Limited, said that being an ambassador is a wonderful experience. She said it gave her the opportunity to meet many other women entrepreneurs from the other EU countries. Listening to their stories and discussing the difficulties that one comes across as an entrepreneur and even more so as a woman, Ms Gaerty confirmed that many women face the same problems. On the upside, she also realised how many women managed to turn a problem into an opportunity and create a business.

“Networking between us started from day 1 especially with those from the neighbouring countries such as Italy and Cyprus.”

Therese Delia, of Business Meetings Malta, said: “My involvement with the Amie project meant staying involved with an international community of women entrepreneurs as a means of sharing ideas, experiences, best practices and resources for the empowerment of women. A wonderful experience with know-how for a force of change thanks to Amie.”

Jennifer Debono, of Lifestyle Investments, said that networking with other European women entrepreneurs is very interesting and from the very first meeting she learnt that they all encounter the same problems. “Discussing and sharing our experiences of work gives me energy to keep moving forward.”

Jeanette Borg, of Merill Eco Tours, said: “Being an ambassador is an opportunity to share knowledge and experiences with other entrepreneurs and with others that could potentially become entrepreneurs. I’m very passionate about my business and will continue to encourage others to start up their own enterprise.”

And Miriam Duca, of 2M Energy Solutions Limited described the project as motivating and inspiring. In today’s world more women are breaking free from the traditional, gender-specific roles and venturing into the business world, she said, adding that one of the advantages of the Amie project is that it has been giving the ambassadors the opportunity to show that women entrepreneurs are as good as men and they are more gender balanced when they employ staff.

Jane Chircop, of Sapphire Real Estate Services, said the 10 ambassadors proved to be more than she expected; they worked together with one aim, that of representing and promoting the female business community.

“This showed other European women our acumen for the businesses we have in our country, even though we hail from the smallest European country.

“Meeting other women entrepreneurs for the conference in Warsaw, Poland, was the icing on the cake. We met 500 women entrepreneurs from all 27 EU countries. The event was perfectly organised and the networking we did will soon give positive results as it will bring investors to Malta and help generate economic growth.”

And Sandra Zammit, of Smoochie Smooties, said that being an entrepreneur does not necessarily mean that you necessarily need to have the capital or a family business to back you up.

“It means that you really want to do something different for yourself and for society, something you really believe in. Women in particular don’t realise what a lot they have to offer.”

Charlotte Gregory, of Gregory and Murray Company Limited, said the Amie project gave her the possibility of meeting some great women with unbelievable potential and this has reinforced her belief that entrepreneurship is the backbone for a healthy economy.”

Josette Bartolo, of Classic Hair Design, on her part, said: “I was glad to share my experience as a business woman with a good number of female students, hoping to encourage them to start their own business. And sharing my ideas with other European women entrepreneurs was a new and exciting experience for me. Thanks to all the Maltese ambassadors and the project consortium, we have been trying to give the best of our knowledge and to keep on sharing Amie.”