About project

This project was born in 2011 in Center-invest Bank, a commercial bank in southern Russia, which was focusing on the SME sector and sustainable business development. The Bank’s shareholders included the EBRD and DEG. These supranational financial institutions were transferring a lot of know-how to us, including about gender equality financing.

We were pioneers in Russia, launching a completely new product «bank loans for businesswomen», which offered better terms and extra services. We also started a networking platform for Women in Business in southern Russia, and it was not focused only on our clients. We wanted to draw society’s attention to the tremendous work being done by businesswomen and to raise awareness about their important contribution to the economy. Women don’t like talking about themselves, about their achievements, and our goal was to close this information gap. We published a book «Success Stories of Businesswomen» and translated it into English. We were proud of our women and admired the tremendous work they were doing!

Photos from the Women’s Business Breakfasts in Rostov