Women Entrepreneurs Prevent Dangerous Migration

Western foreign and military assistance and investment have pulled back or slowed in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. With the closure of USAID, highly skilled and experienced national employees and contractors from the four countries became unemployed. According to one local observer, 2000 Armenians working for USAID programs lost jobs overnight. European Governments also transferred funding from foreign assistance programs to finance increased military defence spending. An EC grants program supporting entrepreneurs in Georgia and a regional GIZ Caucasus’s program were not renewed. In Moldova, a civil society program lost half its funding. In Ukraine, the uncertainty of military support led to intensified nightly drone and missile attacks that continue to the present time.

Given these developments, this year’s HERA applications doubled, totalling 303 across the four countries. Working quickly, nine independent reviewers from six countries ranked all applications. Four HERA teams of 12 volunteers then interviewed 95 (31% of the total) applicants, who were ranked in the top tier in each of the four countries. In Ukraine a team of three, one from Kyiv, met the ventures online and the Kyiv HERA member followed up by meeting six ventures in Kyiv and Bucha during daylight hours.  

All told we gave out 62 grants at a total cost of $69,703 (EUR 60,251) providing for an average grant cost of $839 (EUR 762).  Of the total program costs, the assessment costs, not including Ukraine, were 25% and including Ukraine, 22%. Although we gave out more grants than ever, the program was the most competitive and we funded only 20% of this year’s total applicants. Many more were fully deserving but our resources are limited; and we thank them for their applications. What follows is a brief snapshot of the women entrepreneurs and their ventures funded in each country. 

In Armenia, we funded equipment for 21 ventures from nine towns and across Yerevan.  Many were in rural areas, including a dairy supplied by ten farmers, experimental community garden providing classes for children, a bee products’ enterprise, accounting firm, after school program, and a science, technology, engineering, arts, and maths (STEAM) program reaching out to children in remote rural villages. The STEAM staff teach AI coding and work with engineers to teach robotics. We also funded equipment for a restaurant and cultural centre for Artsakh refugees in central Yerevan and for a planetarium in Vanadzor providing classes for young people. A homemaker, who had never worked outside the home, mortgaged her house once her children were grown, to open a bakery. Five years later, she is in the last year of her loan and employs eight women in two shifts, who sell 1500 lavash breads daily.  Her bakery, which she started for her community, now serves three communities, and people come from nearby villages to pick up loaves, sometimes taking as many as 50 back home. The bakery needed a large industrial size, dough mixer so we shared the cost.  

In Georgia, the ventures were more diverse than ever. They included a ranch offering organised riding treks in the mountains, Racha dried ham production, a dance studio for children preparing for an international competition in Czech Republic, and digital storybooks for children produced by a team of young entrepreneurs.The storybook team uses traditional Georgian stories and myths for the children to devise their own different narratives and outcomes to encourage discussion. The team shared their “Three Little Pigs” version with us. They needed a high-quality printer to create hard copies for libraries and copyright purposes. In Georgia, we also awarded grants to two guesthouses in different mountainous regions. One young woman hosts weddings and conferences for tourists, schoolchildren, and religious groups at her guesthouse; and the other has created a “vintage guesthouse” that serves tea and cakes for wine tours. Both needed outdoor equipment. When HERA began working in Georgia in 2010, most ventures even if owned by a woman had a male CEO. This year the ventures were founded and run by women, mostly young, or young couples in partnership.  

In Moldova, the team funded 14 women-owned ventures. Many provide products and services for children including: a birthday party/events venture, a development centre serving Ukrainian refugee and special needs' children, a second centre serving special needs' children, a rural traditional country dress atelier, and an online tutoring program providing math and languages for students across Moldova. Moldovan women entrepreneurs sell a variety of agricultural and food products, and the team provided grants for: herbal tea, healthy granola, dried fruit, and non-dairy products, and for cafe and bakery ventures. The team also supported two interior design studios. Both sell domestically and abroad; one, who needed to develop her website, sells to clients in Romania; and the second, who needed a high-speed computer, to clients in Romania and Germany. 

The Ukraine online interviews led to funding several home-based entrepreneurs selling online domestically and abroad (often through Etsy): handicrafts, ethnic clothing, jewellery, dried flowers and candles, bags and backpacks, and natural cosmetic oils. Most ventures are in Kyiv, but we also supported women entrepreneurs in Bucha, Sumy, Odessa, and Kharkiv (which is on the front lines). Primarily started by young women, several ventures could be restarted elsewhere if needed.  One young woman producing handicrafts had moved twice as the front lines changed and is now working in Kyiv. We also funded a gelato production business that originated in Odessa but is now one of Kyiv’s top-rated food destinations. We again gave a second year of funding to the family cafes in Bucha, one with a Bambi theme. Given recurring drone and missile attacks, the café owner requested a generator to keep her second café open. Another young woman in Bucha required equipment for the high quality dentures she is manufacturing for local dentists. We again supported a children’s STEM program in Sumy. This time she needed a high-speed computer to teach AI coding.  

To hear directly from some of the women entrepreneurs, HERA is organising our Annual Online Seminar on Saturday, November 29 at 12:00 noon EST/18:00 CET.  This year’s subject, "Cold Winds from the East", addresses Russia's increasing role in the daily lives, markets, and national politics of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. The HERA women entrepreneurs, who are leaders in providing cutting edge and affordable goods and services to their communities and in developing innovative products and services across borders, will share inspiring stories of keeping their ventures open for business no matter the political winds. RSVP to hera.grants@gmail.com to receive a Zoom link for this event.

GlobalGiving’s Giving Tuesday Campaign runs from December 2, 2025 at 00:00:00 EST to December 3, 2025 at 12:00:00 EST.  Donate to HERA via:

 https://www.globalgiving.org/donate/9592/hera-her-economic-rights-and-autonomy-france-associatio/ 

Many Thanks!!