ReGeneration’s latest initiative on female empowerment and entrepreneurship, with the invaluable support from the US Embassy in Athens and AB Vasilopoulos,
and guidance from Women On Top
With great success the FEMpowerment Initiative: The Academy came to a close – this was an action that strengthened female entrepreneurship in Greece, the first part of the ReGeneration FEMpowerment Initiative with the support of the US Embassy in Athens and AB Vasilopoulos.
In this initiative, 36 finalists – young female professionals up to 35 years old and from various academic backgrounds – were able to fortify their passion for entrepreneurship or further develop their nascent business ideas. Succeeding through three evaluation stages, these women earned their places in this carefully designed and holistic Academy that aims to encourage female-led business.
The Academy finalists began their journey with an intensive 4-day training for soft & business skills between the 25th-27th, and on the 29th of October. This training included presentations, panels, and workshops by renowned executives and speakers, covering significant topics such as CV & LinkedIn Building, Career Management, Personal Branding, Gender Equality, and more.
The finalists then participated in ten 2-hour long, intensive Capacity Building Workshops by Women On Top, interacting with topics such as Pitching, Fundraising, Business Planning, and more. They were given the opportunity to develop business ideas, while being equipped with tools to help overcome challenges that women often face in the professional world.
The next phase of the Academy included two tailor-made learning paths on soft skills & entrepreneurship, as well as free access to 9.500 courses via LinkedIn Learning. Finalists will now engage in one-on-one mentoring sessions for a duration of 3 months, working with the vast network of mentors of the organisation Women On Top.
U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt said: “Promoting women’s economic empowerment is a key priority of the Biden-Harris Administration. At the U.S. Mission to Greece, we’re committed to moving this agenda forward with programs to aid women entrepreneurs and bridge the gender gap in science and technology. We are very excited to partner with ReGeneration to offer new skills, inspiration, mentoring and networks to women across Greece. History shows that when women fully participate in our economies, societies prosper. And as our countries and communities recover from the economic shock of the pandemic, women’s contributions will be more valuable than ever.”
Dimitris Artikopoulos, Vice President of Human Resources and Organizational Development of AB Vasilopoulos comments: “We are proud to actively support the FEMpowerment Initiative, an important action for the empowerment of women and female entrepreneurship in our country. At AB Vasilopoulos, we always stand behind initiatives that create opportunity and promote dialogue about diversity and inclusion – a mentality we also endorse as an employer. We recognize that we are a group of unique individuals, and we are a team that cares. We work together with passion, humor, and integrity, in a work environment that allows us to do our best to make a difference in people’s lives. So that we can be everything we already are, but also everything we want to become.”
According to Panagiotis Madamopoulos-Moraris, Co-Founder of ReGeneration, “at ReGeneration, our compass is the democratization of opportunity for young people in Greece – and this is the direction with which we plan and implement actions for a better tomorrow. Gender Equality is one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals; recognizing the urgent need for female empowerment in our country, we designed a dynamic initiative aiming to effectively promote women’s entrepreneurship. We have proven time and time again that social footprints are maximized only through strategic synergies and collaborations between the public and private sectors. For this reason, we are very happy to have partnered with the US Embassy in Athens and AB Vasilopoulos for the implementation of the FEMpowerment Initiative, which in combination with additional women’s empowerment initiatives we are planning, will be a small step towards active female participation in the socio-economic footprint of our country.”
As Pinelopi Theodorakakou, Co-Founder of Women On Top states: “We are very pleased that, as a result of this collaboration, we were able to offer young professionals the necessary tools for the development of female entrepreneurship in our country. And in the continuation of the program, that we can connect them with female mentors who will be able to share knowledge and experience to support their sustainable and profitable business development.”
Meanwhile, the second part of the ReGeneration FEMpowerment Initiative: The Masterclass Series continues! Having attracted incredible participation rates and turn-out, this Masterclass Series brings together a dynamic roster of speakers from around the world, covering topics on how to make your first steps in business, the importance of storytelling, women in technology, leadership, unconscious bias, and much more.
The Masterclass Series takes place on Thursdays at 19:00 Athens time and will run until the 16th of December 2021. The presentations are open to everyone. Express your interest and register now through the ReGeneration website at www.regeneration.gr/fem-masterclass-series/ .
About ReGeneration
ReGeneration is the largest and most multi-stakeholder employment and training program in Greece, aiming to democratize opportunity for young graduates in post-graduate training and professional development in the country. Part of the Global Shapers Athens Hub, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, it was founded to boost youth employment, bridge the skills gap, combat youth unemployment, and minimize “brain drain”. It caters to talented young graduates from all academic backgrounds, up to 29 years old, with 0-3 years of experience, who are interested in making their first professional steps to stand out in Greece. It facilitates 6 month (minimum) paid placements in multinational and small-medium sized companies in Greece, as well as 32 hours of training in soft skills. The ReGeneration Academy provides hundreds of hours of upskilling and reskilling in cutting-edge technologies and for in-demand industries, 25 hours of community service to select NGOs, as well as a mentoring program with renowned market executives. To date, more than 2.250 young graduates have been placed in jobs, in 820+ companies nationwide. Hiring partner rates of contract renewal amount to 92%, while it is estimated that more than 16.000.000 Euro in salaries has already been paid to young people who were hired through the ReGeneration program. Additionally, participants have received 520.000 hours of training in soft and digital skills while giving back 17.700 hours of volunteering in their communities.
ReGeneration is a nonprofit program and is supported by: Coca-Cola, The Coca-Cola Foundation, The Hellenic Initiative, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. Our valued partners, who offer services, the necessary know-how, and resources for the program to work seamlessly at every stage include Arctic Shores, ethelon, Job-Pairs, Mindshare, OTE Academy, and RSM.
For more information about ReGeneration, visit the website www.regeneration.gr, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Support from the US Embassy in Athens
The US Embassy in Athens supports the FEMpowerment Initiative given the close collaboration between the United States and Greece in the realm of innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as in the common goal for gender equality.
Every year, thousands of Americans and Greeks participate in intercultural training programs in both countries. Artists, educators, athletes, entrepreneurs, students, and young people from the US and Greece take part in academic, cultural, athletic, and professional exchanges. The US Embassy in Athens supports and develops these exchanges to strengthen relations between the two populations.
For more information, you can visit the Embassy page on Facebook.
Support from AB Vasilopoulos
At AB Vasilopoulos, we have rightfully won a place at the table of every Greek household, through our undebatable quality, unique service, and special product variety. Guided by our goal to do our best in making a difference in people’s lives, we always stand by our 2.2 million customers with courage, integrity, teamwork, care, and humor. We stand by every neighborhood in Greece, where our heart beats through the network of our 500+ stores throughout the country; where our people become your people, ready to serve you with joy and passion, offering a unique shopping experience to every individual.
Support from Women On Top
Women On Top is an organization dedicated to the professional empowerment of women and equality at work. Our goal is to offer as many women as possible the knowledge, network, and tools that will enable them to become what they are able, and what they want to be! Since 2012, we have organized and attended over 980 mentoring partnerships for the benefit of unemployed women, women who want to change careers, women who want to enter male-driven industries, female entrepreneurs, and more… we have trained over 1.500 unemployed, employed, and self-employed women in professional development seminars. In parallel, we continue to support companies and other organizations in their vision to become inclusive and equal opportunity employers.
