About the initiative
She's Next Empowered by Visa has always been global in reach but rooted in local efforts
Visa’s mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure digital payment network, and enable businesses – among other key constituents – to thrive.
As a leader in digital payments for more than 60 years, we have expertise and resources to enable economic growth and strengthen economies while also helping to improve lives and create a better world. It all starts in the local communities.
She’s Next in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus
Since 2019, Visa has brought its global campaign for female SME community to nine countries in the region (with more to come): Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, inspiring thousands of women to find their path to leadership.
Beyond providing top-quality services, Visa’s vision and purpose is to add value and make an impact in the markets and countries where the company operates. Bringing communities together and contributing to their development and growth under She’s Next initiative, the company focuses specifically on women-led small and medium businesses.
Instruments & Formats
Our region was among the first in the world to launch the campaign. Since then, we’ve implemented lots of formats to meet the ultimate goal of keeping female entrepreneurs included in local businesses and industries and helping them financially:
- Educational webinars
- Workshops
- Design-thinking sessions
- Mentoring sessions
- Success stories
- Online-Hackathon: teams have been working on business ideas and solutions with mentors to create a working MVP ready for the finals
- Business marathon
- Visionary business female accelerator
- Edu Days: events with lectures from inspirational speakers and business networking, speed dating
- Visa Elevator Pitch Day: the best 2-minute presentations from female business owners to top managers and experienced business leaders to receive funding on product, service or solution development