On December 19th, the 10 finalists of the 4th edition of the Danone Eres Impulso competition of Spanish female social entrepreneurs had to pitch their project in less than 5 minutes to convince the members of the jury.

After long reflexion and deliberation, we finally decided to allocate the 2 cheques of 10.000 euros to the following projects: HUSK Ventures, converting rice husk into organic biochar to build resilience for smallholder farmers and Desnudate Autoestima, working with young women who have suffered eating disorders to regain empowerment and self-esteem.

We wish good luck to the 2 winning projects and hope they will have an even greater impact in 2019!

Last month of November, we had once again the strong task to train the 10 finalists of the Font Vella’s competition Eres Impulso in Barcelona for their final pitch in December in front of the jury. These women are working toward social change and innovation with the help of  their storytelling and public speaking skills.

We will be back in December for the final jury! Good luck!

First we gave a talk at Nazarbayev University on Which strategies do new generation social activists leverage to make an impact? Thank you to the E.Quality Team for the event!

Next up, we have a very exciting project coming up at the end of 2018/beginning of 2019. We will soon be releasing a series of webinars on storytelling for women leaders!

Our friend Ai Khafizova in Kazakhstan helped us produce the lessons in French and English. These webinars will give us yet another medium to educate and spread awareness around the world. Stay tuned for our publication of these online courses in December!

As a part of the Africa and Europe Facilitators Pool in Changemakerxchange, Shiftbalance spent a week in Accra, Ghana to coach a new generation of changemakers from all over West Africa

We joined Impact Hub among other organizations to inspire the young community of activists and entrepreneurs. Congratulations to all of the participants! We can’t wait to see what successes await these changemakers!

Shiftbalance’s second time participating in the JUMP Forum was a success!

This past spring we ran a Storytelling Workshop at JUMP Paris. This autumn, in addition to the Storytelling workshop, we delivered a keynote speech our work in women’s empowerment and gender balance and participated in a round table called “Women Are Heroes”.

Round Table “Women are Heroes” moderator Marie Allibert (JUMP) (left to right) and participants Marie-Sophie Obama (Professional basketball player, President of Lyon ASVEL féminin), Pierre-Yves Ginet (Co-founder and PDG Femmes Ici et Ailleurs), Patric Jean (Producer, author of “Les hommes veulent ils l’égalité”), and Aurélie Salvaire of Shiftbalance.

During the Storytelling workshop, JUMP participants not only learned the important power of Storytelling but also the key factors which make a story influential.

After individual and group crafting and collaboration, participants shared their short story pitches. We believe that every woman has the confidence and capability of telling their compelling stories to any audience.

JUMP is always full of inspirational and influential individuals, from those specialized in women’s empowerment to others who come from various corporations to learn more about promoting gender equality in their workplace. We need to keep exchanging ideas and challenging one another to take the next step in advancing women in the world!

Two great visits in one city!

First we visited the Sparknews Positive Innovation Club to give a business pitch to an audience of top executives and inspiring project leaders. Sparknews mission is to amplify positive impact initiatives. They organize every year the Impact Journalism Day sharing positive stories on June 20th.

It was a rich experience of developing more inclusive practices, considering our short and long term business plans, and sharing our diverse experiences and backgrounds with each other.

Next up: the London office of Schibsted, an international media group. We presented tips for and examples on creating a women’s network in a company.

With the various Women’s Networks like Lean In Circles, or Affinity Groups and Inclusion Councils, we talked about the strengths and weaknesses of each method.

We love to see companies like Sparknews and Schibsted actively working to diversify and include all people in their workplace. Representation and equitable practices are especially important in the field of media where their work will impact people all around the world.

Last Monday, October 10 we were in Helsinki, Finland visiting the GODESS Institute at the Hanken School of Economics.

GODESS researches and develops areas of gender, organisation, diversity, equality, and social sustainability in transnational times.

Kamilla Sultanova (left), Aurélie Salvaire (center), Leila Gharavi (right)

Kamilla Sultanova recorded a Facebook live video with Aurélie and Leila Gharavi who was responsible for organizing this event. We discussed Balance the World!, the importance of new stories by women and for women, and the need for more changemakers to become leaders in our communities! Check it out here.

Thank you for having us at Hanken! We’re looking forward to some day visitingUzbekistan with Kamilla!

Mid-September, we launched our first power bootcamp in a gorgeous location in the Swiss Alps!

It was the opportunity to gather amazing women from all over Europe to learn about storytelling, public speaking and leadership skills.

Three days of an immersive sisterhood experience in an exceptional location: what best to start the year?

We started the month of September in a beautiful location: the H-Farm incubator, an amazing innovation platform situated in the countryside, a few kilometers away from Venice.

We were invited to speak at the first edition of Future Shots, an event dedicated to future trends and technology.

In this context, we were delighted to stress again the importance of diversity in technology in order to shape a future inclusive of all of us.