Acting Counselor for Public Diplomacy Justen Thomas delivered remarks at the launch event and following press conference of the Academy of Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) program in Castilla La Mancha and Murcia, held at the Association of Young Entrepreneurs (AJE) headquarters in Cuenca. With the support of the governments of Castilla La Mancha and Murcia, AJE selected two cohorts of women entrepreneurs focused mainly in the services and agribusiness sectors, spread in nineteen Castilla-La Mancha and six Murcia small cities.
The entrepreneurs gathered both in person and virtually for the first time at this hybrid event in Cuenca. VIA Circulo Jefferson Alumni Association President Encarnita del Amor, former AWE implementers/facilitators Teresa Alarcos (Sevilla), Ana Perez (Valencia), and Maria Mora (Catalonia) also delivered short remarks encouraging grantees to create an active alumnae network of Spain female entrepreneurs from all AWE editions.
The Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs established the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs in 2019 to provide women entrepreneurs with the skills, resources, and networks needed to start and scale up their businesses and to share lessons and best practices from the United States with new businesses operating in Spain to prepare them for potential collaboration with U.S. clients and investors. The U.S. Mission to Spain is now in its fourth year of AWE programming that has reached over 200 women across Spain.