Supporting Small Business Resilience through Digital Tools
How digital tools can contribute to the resiliency of micro and small businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis
July 1, 2020
The Program
On July 1, the Global Innovation Forum and the WTO Joint Initiative on Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) hosted a webinar to explore how digital tools can contribute to the resiliency of micro and small businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.
GIF’s Executive Director Jake Colvin moderated a panel discussion among small and innovative businesses, technology providers and officials about how they are using digital tools more intensively than ever to operate during the coronavirus crisis, and the role of trade promotion programs in enabling access to the e-commerce ecosystem that they are utilizing to survive.
Panelists
Josefina Urzaiz
Co-Founder, Cielo Hammocks
Mexico
About Josefina
Josefina, Co-owner of Cielo Hammocks, grew up Mexico and has over 18 years of experience in finance, entrepreneurship and philanthropy. She also Josefina co-founded Fundacion Cielo, a non-profit organization set up to end the generational poverty cycle in Mayan Communities.
Josefina is a strong advocate of Women. She supports financially women in public office. Her non-profit only sponsors young girls for higher education as she is a strong believer of the triple effect this has in society.
About Cielo Hammocks
Cielo Hammocks is a socially driven organization that alleviates poverty and promotes gender equality by manufacturing and distributing Artisanal Hammocks around the world. As Fair Trade Member and a B Corp Certified organization, it has been honored “Best for the World” every year since 2015. It was also featured by Lowe’s to highlight their Supplier Diversity efforts.
About Eno
Eno Umoh is the co-founder of Global Air Media and the Global Air Drone Academy. As a member of the US State Department’s ‘US Speaker’s Program’, Umoh always looks to promote a culture of entrepreneurship and safety in this ever-emerging industry.
About Global Air Media
Since 2015 Global Air Media has focused on providing drone training, education, mapping, and consultation services to clients around the world.
In addition to their commercial services, GAM launched the Global Air Drone Academy (GADA) to promote ‘STEAM’ technology using drones, drone safety, and entrepreneurship in this emerging industry. GADA has delivered drone technology workshops in partnership with the U.S. Commerce Department and U.S. Embassies in Nigeria, Zambia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. Since 2016 we have provided training to more than 6,000 students in 400+ schools and in 7 countries
Eno Umoh
Co-Founder, Global Air Media
United States
Celia Boyd
Co-Founder, SHE Investments
Cambodia
About Celia
Celia is a co-founder and the Managing Director of SHE Investments. With a Masters degree in Community and International Development and 10 years experience in the sector, Celia has worked across multiple countries including Australia, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar and Cambodia. She has consulted for a wide range of international agencies on gender and women’s economic empowerment through entrepreneurship, including USAID, UNDP, UN Women, UN ESCAP, and more.
Through the COVID-19 period, Celia led a team through crisis as well as ensuring the team continued to directly support SHE’s incubator and accelerator participants, build new partnerships with government and international agencies to create new digital products and resources for women-led MSMEs to survive, recover and rebuild moving forwards in 2020.
About SHE Investments
SHE Investments is Cambodia’s first and only gender-focused and culturally tailored business incubator and accelerator for women-led MSMEs. In the past 5 years, the organization has had over 300 graduates, with thousands more reached through training workshops, digital outreach and events.
About Rana
Mr. Ekezie is the Co-Founder of Transboxx Technologies. He is also the Co-Founder of one of the fastest-growing and largest Internet travel sites in Africa, Wakanow.com. He is also the Chairman of the Board for Consolidated Hallmark Insurance PLC. One of Nigeria’s leading insurance companies. He studied Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland and attended the Robert H. Smith College of Business, Maryland U.S.A and graduated with a Minor degree in IBM Total Quality Mgt.
About The Little Engineer
The Little Engineer has become an education institution with both business to business and business to client channels. The emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics is conveyed by specially tailored hands-on learning activities that allow kids and teens to unleash their full potential in pre-engineering skills while focusing on robotics, coding, renewable energies, aviation, automotive and space industries, Internet of things, Artificial intelligence, 3D modeling and much more. Currently, the Little Engineer is collaborating with ministries of education in the MENA region, Africa and the USA in hopes of bridging the gap between theory and practice & schools and universities.
Rana El Chemaitelly
Founder, The Little Engineer
Lebanon