Women's Enterprise Ambassadors Programme

In February 2007, Margaret Hodge MP (Minister for Industry and the Regions) announced that she wanted to recruit a 1,000 strong network of inspirational women to help and inspire more women to set up their own businesses.

NEW! Women's Enterprise Ambassadors website www.enterpriseambassadors.co.uk

Each Regional Development Agency has been tasked with the recruitment of 100 ambassadors in their region to reach the target of 1,000 network members. Enterprise Insight is managing this network at the national level and will be collating details of Ambassadors from all regions into a national database.

Who could be an Ambassador?

Ambassadors­ will be people already inspiring women to start businesses. They will already be talking to people about enterprise, writing articles in local newspapers about their experiences, talking to young people in schools, setting up peer support networks, mentoring others in business, providing training programmes for female entrepreneurs or potential female entrepreneurs.

They could be male or female (men are often cited as the role model­ who helped a woman to go into business), they may own their own business, they may run a successful organisation, they may be community development workers, or they may advise women on starting or growing a businessÖultimately, they will be passionate about helping women achieve their potential through self employment.

What will an Ambassador receive?

National benefits for ambassadors will include:

• being part of a national network of ambassadors, which has Ministerial support and endorsement;
• national PR/media opportunities. For example, the DTI press office will liaise with RDAs on media opportunities in and around the ambassadors event;
• potential to influence women's enterprise policy-making through meetings with the Task Force on Women's Enterprise.
• some ambassadors may also wish to be considered, as members of national advisory bodies addressing women's and women's enterprise issues.

Regional benefits will include:

• EEDA will provide the regional media and public sector partners such as Business Links, Learning and Skills Councils and Jobcentre Plus, with contact details of Ambassadors, so that they can contact individuals as and when PR and other opportunities arise.
• Ambassadors will be expected to be proactive and to follow up any opportunities themselves. The Regional Development Agency will not be able to do this for them.