S8-Ep10: ShEquity - A Refugee’s Path to Empowering Women & Their Businesses

Guest: Pauline Koelbl   Surviving life as a refugee is one thing.  To turn that life into a mission to empower other women is quite another.    That’s exactly what Pauline Koelbl did.  Escaping the war in Rwanda, she found herself a homeless refugee.  Eventually, Pauline found a home in Tucson, Arizona.  More importantly, she found mentoring and support there – and now “pays it forward” as the founder and managing director of ShEquity, and investment firm providing capital and other resources to women-led and -owned businesses in Africa.  Women are the key to unlocking economic success on the continent; they operate over 40% of small and medium sized enterprises.  What’s more, they reinvest about 90% of their revenue in sectors and activities that benefit their families and communities – men only reinvest 40%.  That’s one of many reasons the McKinsey Global Institute estimates the global GDP would increase by $28 trillion if we simply closed the business gender gap!    Pauline shares her compelling story of refugee-turned-entrepreneur focused on female empowerment with host Maureen Metcalf.    Here's what Pauline and Maureen cover: How closing the gender gap in the workforce potentially adds $28 trillion to the global GDP; Why, despite the stereotypes, refugees bring with them vast amounts of intellectual capital host countries tend to waste; and Why women are the key to African (and other) nations fully realizing their economic potential.   Other episodes you'll find edifying:  - Diamonds in the Rough: Sustainability & Corporate Citizenship – with Pat Dambe - Diversity & Inclusion Insights from IBM South Africa – with Roger Madison - Empowering Women for the Prosperity of Nations – with Amanda Ellis & Augusto Lopez-Claros For daily wisdom from our guests, be sure to follow us on LinkedIn . We're on Mastodon, Facebook, and Twitter, too!   ----------------------   RESOURCES:   More on Pauline’s investment firm is online at https://shequity.com/ . Our host Maureen Metcalf posts a newsletter every week on LinkedIn. You can subscribe here . She’s also written several award-winning books on leadership development. You can peruse and purchase them here: https://amzn.to/3C4eSX0 . -----------------------   OUR PODCAST TEAM:   Host & Executive Producer: Maureen Metcalf  Editor & Producer: Dan Mushalko  Video & Graphics Editor: Devon Mushalko  They Who Shall Remain Unnamed: Luigi Morelli and Connor Carson CONNECT WITH US: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Innovativeleadership YouTube: @InnovatingLeadership Twitter: @IL_Institute Mastodon: @InnoLeader LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/innovativeleadershipinsitute/ Website: InnovativeLeadership.com Loved this episode? Leave us a review and rating! -----------------------   About Our Guest:   Pauline Koelbl is AfriProspect GmbH’s Founder/CEO as well as ShEquity’s Founder/Managing Partner.  AfriProspect focuses on connecting African innovators with global markets, and ShEquity provides smart investment to impactful and scalable African female-led and owned businesses. Pauline also has 10+ years’ experience catalyzing innovation and entrepreneurship across Africa.  Her passion lies in innovation, entrepreneurship, youth, and women economic empowerment.  A double Fulbright -Scholar and Fellow-, Pauline is currently serving on a variety of boards of companies/organizations connected to business, entrepreneurship and innovation in Africa. Pauline holds an Executive Education in Innovation for Economic Development from Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government; a Master’s Degree in Poverty and Development, Institute of Development Studies (IDS) from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies (Honors) from the University of Arizona, USA.