Karya Perempuan provides a series of business and personal management training courses for women-owned MSMEs in Indonesia.Launched in 2020, Karya Perempuan, a joint initiative by Meta’s #SheMeansBusiness and YCAB Foundation, reported that almost 80% of participants have increased knowledge and 92% of them have improved their ability to manage risks and uncertainty. This program successfully reached 590 women-owned MSMEs across 15 areas in Indonesia. Following its first year’s success, Karya Perempuan program will continue its success with Rahasia Gadis in enhancing the program to further equip young women entrepreneurs with financial and digital skills to widen their business and make space networking opportunities to expand their market.
Meta and YCAB Foundation kick-starts the Karya Perempuan 2.0 program by celebrating International Women’s Day to support #SheMeansBusiness’ campaign #BuyFromHer in building social resilience by supporting local MSMEs, highlighting 50 well-performing women-owned MSMEs and featured them on a WhatsApp Business catalog. This Whatsapp Business catalog is hoped to give good exposure to these women-owned MSMEs which generate traffic and sales to their business.
Coinciding with Kartini’s Day, Karya Perempuan 2.0 held a webinar titled “Perempuan juga Bisa Berkarya, dong!” (Women, too, Can Create!) on April 13th. Powerhouse speakers namely Nagita Slavina (Indonesian public figure and womenpreneur) and Adelle & Dhika (Co-founders of Rahasia Gadis) had the stage to voice out that women can do so much better than the gender stereotypes that revolve around their existence. This event was also supported and celebrated by Teten Masduki (Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs of Republic of Indonesia), Veronica Colondam (CEO and Founder of YCAB Foundation), and Karissa Sjawaldy (Public Policy Manager of Meta Indonesia).
A synergic collaboration between all parties needs to be formed in order to face unprecedented global uncertainties. Marking the G20 Presidency of Indonesia 2022, Karya Perempuan is a powerful program that involves Meta, YCAB Foundation, and the government with the same goal, for a better Indonesian womenpreneurs in the coming years.
“Since 2016, #SheMeansBusiness has become a forum for women entrepreneurs to meet each other, exchange ideas, collaborate, and improve their skills. Even in 2021, Karya Perempuan has succeeded in empowering women entrepreneurs in more than 15 provinces in Indonesia in line with the policy recommendations of the G20 presidency. I hope that this kind of training will continue to encourage the acceleration of the digitization of MSMEs, and financial literacy, as well as improve the quality of the entrepreneurial spirit of Indonesian women. The role and contribution of women in future economic recovery and transformation are very strategic where of the total MSME actors, 34% of medium businesses are run by women, even 56% of small businesses and 52.9% of micro-businesses are also managed by women.” mentioned Teten Masduki, Minister of Cooperatives and SMEs of Republic of Indonesia, during his opening speech for Karya Perempuan 2.0.
The fun and relaxed 2-hours talk show/webinar thoroughly explored the limitless possibility of what women can achieve in business. Adelle from Rahasia Gadis shared how she co-founded Indonesia’s biggest young women community with her partner Dhika, “First things first, business is all about adaptability, how we overcome the obstacles and learn to get better especially when hit with the pandemic. Secondly, business is about the people. Rahasia Gadis is where it is at right now all thanks to the great masterminds behind us. Thirdly, the most important of it all, what is our vision as a business? How do we see this thrive 10 years from now? Where do we see ourselves and what value can we offer to others?”.
“When talking about business, we may have terrific ideas and dream plans but we also need to add humility to it: be realistic. Measure the source and power that you have, with what you can offer to society. And not just that, we definitely need to be consistent in what we do.” responded Nagita Slavina, Indonesian public figure and womenpreneur, when asked about tips and tricks in making it right in business.
