I received products from Coca-Cola’s 5by20 program; however, all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Women all over the world face a very common struggle – wanting to earn an income but lacking access to the resources, skills, or opportunities that could allow them to provide for themselves or for their families. This International Women’s Day, I want to share with you all and celebrate a program that is committed empowering women by providing access to skills training, financial resources and mentorship to women entrepreneurs across the globe.
Coca-Cola’s 5by20 initiative
Coca-Cola’s 5by20 initiative was created to help empower female entrepreneurs worldwide with the tools and training they need to grow their businesses and income; addressing some of the most common barriers that prevent women from succeeding in the marketplace such as access to trainings, financial services, and peer-to-peer mentoring. It was launched in 2010 and aims to impact 5 million women entrepreneurs across the company’s value chain by the year 2020.
Through the initiative, women (most of whom are living in developing nations) use their resourcefulness and creativity to create beautiful décor items and accessories from upcycled packaging, like Coca-Cola labels and pull tabs which are often discarded as waste. In turn, these women are able to elevate themselves, their families, and their communities.
Here are some examples of these amazing treasures created by these women.
Meet the Artisans
How this 5by20 benefits society as a whole
Not only is this such a cool idea, it’s also a very important initiative for society. Supporting other women – in business and otherwise – ultimately helps create a ripple effect that benefits society as a whole. There are mountains of research indicating that when you invest in the education and success of women, it improves the economy and makes the community stronger and more sustainable; benefiting everyone – men, women and children. Studies show that women are more likely to reinvest 90% of their income in food, education and healthcare for their children and their families and when women rise in their communities, the communities themselves rise to new heights of prosperity and health. Over and over, studies have found a direct correlation between women’s empowerment and GDP growth, business growth, environmental sustainability, improved human health, and other positive impacts.
To date, there are 5by20 programs enabling women in more than 60 countries around the world. At the end of 2015, 1.2 million women were impacted in total through the initiative.
View the entire 5by20 merchandise shop here to support these efforts and be sure to share this post with friends!
Thanks, great article.
I don’t feel the same way with the woman’s rights thing but I love supporting other people.
This is awesome! More companies like Coco Cola should empower female entrepreneurs around the world.
I’ve always liked Coca Cola for their projects that help empower women and recognize them for what they do as well. This is a really awesome initiative.
This is such a great work coca cola is doing. am gonna drink more coca cola to support them from now lol
Such a great program! Happy international women’s day!
What an interesting and noble concept! These items look so incredible. I’m glad that Coca-Cola takes the initiative to create programs like this. Thanks for sharing!
Giving women the chance to earn and show their talents and skill is a lovely initiative! It’s so nice that coca cola is leading this project for women!
Providing women with the tools that they need to make a living? That’s just simply amazing! It’s the kind of project that’s close to my heart. Kudos to Coca-Cola for this initiative.
These do look like some very fun products. This is cool what they are doing to support women throughout the world.
Thats so cool that Coca Cola has a program to empower women entrepreneurs. I highly respect companies that do this.
http://www.beautifully-created.com
What a great programme. I didn’t know about this but it’s good to see huge companies supporting and developing female entrepreneurship and empowerment.
What a great cause. Is there a way where I can get more information to get involved?
This is great I didn’t know Coca Cola did this! I’m totally not a soda drinker bur good to know when I do once in a blue I’ll think about this.
Lovely post. This is a great imitative. Well done on you to highlight this up. xx
what a great initiative. I am glad that I am a shareholder of such a great company.
I love to see women being empowered because their lives can be so difficult so any help is appreciated!
I love the 5by20 initative in empowering women around the world. So great to see companies like Coca Cola creating these amazing campaigns.
What beautiful designs! I would love to be able to create something like that.
Nice idea! We are a global tribe of Climate-conscious citizens committed to Making Earth Cooler with trees. 🙂