When leaders grow, businesses follow

Behind every thriving impact business is a leader who continues to develop alongside it. Over the past two decades, the Cartier Women’s Initiative’s human capital support has been carefully refined to equip women impact entrepreneurs with the skills, confidence and perspective they need to achieve their full potential.

Through a holistic year-long program shaped by industry leaders, academics, ecosystem enablers and peers, fellows strengthen both their businesses and their leadership skills. Each fellow also joins our lifelong global community of peers and supporters. The fellowship program may come to an end after twelve months, but the learning and connection opportunities continue for life. 

A year of growth

Our program has been shaped around the specific needs of women impact entrepreneurs. It is structured into three distinct phases, each designed to empower fellows with the tools needed to excel in their entrepreneurial journey. The first, “Visibility and stance,” develops fellows’ public speaking skills, strengthens their personal branding and social media presence, and provides dedicated media and press training. It prepares fellows to make the most of their time in the spotlight during awards week. Beyond the fellowship, these sessions also help them navigate future speaking, interview and leadership opportunities with clarity and presence.

In the second phase, “Celebrate and connect,” fellows convene for an in-person intensive learning program created by leading international business school INSEAD, followed by the awards ceremony. The INSEAD Women’s Impact Entrepreneurship Program was launched in 2023 as a progression of INSEAD and the Cartier Women’s Initiative’s partnership, which began in 2007. 

Participant-generated case studies are at the core of the INSEAD course, where fellows present their own impact business goals and challenges, and other participants share potential solutions based on their personal experiences. Conducting this element of the fellowship program face-to-face helps to maximally integrate peer learning and mutual support. The collective learning is supported by skillful facilitation from INSEAD’s seasoned professor-practitioners, who also share academic insights, practical expertise and theoretical frameworks.

Over the same period, fellows from previous editions, members of the Cartier Women’s Initiative’s broader community of supporters, and other entrepreneurship ecosystem members gather in the same location for a week of peer-led workshops, networking opportunities, and celebration, culminating in the awards ceremony for the new edition of fellows.

The final phase, “Skills and leadership,” includes 1:1 business training and executive coaching, along with individual well-being sessions. Entrepreneur well-being is integral to long-term success yet often overlooked, so it is embedded as a pillar of our program.

For this phase, fellows can select a different track based on their specific needs, such as impact measurement, strategic finance, fundraising and investor management, organizational management, and revenue growth and sales strategy. They can also invite team members to join select sessions to ensure the whole business benefits from the learning opportunities on offer. 

2023 fellow Dupe Killa-Kafidipe, founder of ethical seafood company Platinum Fisheries, speaks positively about the program's impact on her business. “I have a more structured organization with better governance based on the learnings from INSEAD, peer-to-peer sessions, the coaching throughout the fellowship, and more.” She says.

A program that continues to evolve

The Cartier Women’s Initiative team is committed to continuous improvement. We analyze the outcomes of each edition, taking into account factors such as fellows’ feedback and how the impact business environment is evolving. These insights help us to make the following year’s program even more relevant.

One such improvement in recent years is the introduction of a parental stipend, available throughout the duration of the fellowship for fellows with children under six years old. This is designed to minimize additional childcare costs during the fellowship. The program is also flexible around the needs of fellows who are pregnant or have young children.

Access to lifelong learning resources

After their fellowship year ends, fellows continue to receive access to expert-led business coaching focused on the same topics covered in the program itself. 2023 fellow Lina Xu describes how this support helped her raise funds for her healthtech business, Telecare, which was later acquired by Teladoc Health. “Through the comprehensive coaching programs for investment readiness, we have fine-tuned our fund-raising collaterals and honed our pitching and negotiation skills, which led to a successful SAFE [simple agreement for future equity] round in late 2023,” she explains. 

Sharing our community’s wisdom

The Cartier Women’s Initiative is based around a fellowship with a limited number of places, but our vision is a world in which every woman impact entrepreneur can achieve her full potential.

Fellows and other community members regularly run peer learning sessions to share insights on specific topics built around their personal experience. These sessions are exclusive to our community, enabling attendees to speak openly and candidly. However, many of the key takeaways are shared more widely via the Cartier Women’s Initiative LinkedIn page, so more entrepreneurs can benefit from their hard-earned wisdom. In recent months, 2014 fellow Rama Kayyali shared insights from her experience starting a new chapter after two decades building her edtech impact business, Little Thinking Minds, which was acquired in 2025. Lina Xu also presented her post-acquisition reflections after Telecare became part of Teladoc Health, focusing on how to prepare a business for a smooth sale. 2018 fellow Audrey Cheng’s session took a different approach entirely, giving guidance on founder well-being and the lessons she learned while recovering from burnout.

Strengthening impact entrepreneurship at a local level

Outside of our global fellowship, the Cartier Women’s Initiative also organizes country-specific programs for women impact entrepreneurs. 

Launched in 2022, the Underwoman Impact Community in South Korea aims to build a community that empowers women entrepreneurs through shared empathy, encouragement, peer-led learning and active exchange. Its participants are split into two tracks: global, for those aiming for worldwide expansion, and growth, for early-stage businesses seeking sustainable expansion. All program participants receive training on social innovation entrepreneurship methodologies, consultations on social impact metrics and hands-on guidance to develop high-quality business plans.

Several former Cartier Women’s Initiative fellows have previously completed one of the local programs. These include 2023 fellow Woori Moon, who participated in the Underwoman program; 2024 fellows Xintong Du and Emily Yu; and 2026 fellow Ting Ye, whose businesses benefited from China-based Project Ripple. This program provides women impact entrepreneurs with training on impact and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, impact business models and growth indicators, financial management and pitch storytelling, coupled with in-person networking opportunities.

In Francophone and Lusophone Africa, a local program run in collaboration with international solidarity platform Afrilanthropy equips women impact entrepreneurs with essential business skills, including financial management, market analysis and English proficiency, via group training and individual mentoring sessions. At the close of the program, eligible participants are encouraged to submit an application to the Cartier Women’s Initiative’s global program. 2026 fellow Adeline Pelage, founder of Biscuiterie Bobo, reports that taking part helped her strengthen the foundations of her impact business. 

She explains, “Participating in the program with Afrilanthropy was a key step in my journey towards the Cartier Women’s Initiative. It helped me refine my strategy, clarify my impact and structure a more coherent and compelling narrative. This local support played an important role in preparing me to meet the expectations of an international platform.” 

Supporting entrepreneurs to amplify their impact

The Cartier Women’s Initiative’s human capital support aims to help women impact entrepreneurs enhance their leadership and balance work with well-being. When leaders grow, their businesses grow with them. And when those businesses grow, so too does their ability to create meaningful change.