2025 Academy for Women Entrepreneurs Canada (AWE)

U.S. Embassy Ottawa announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to implement the 2025 Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) in Montreal, Canada.  

AWE is a U.S. Department of State-led initiative established in 2019 to provide women with the professional skills, knowledge, networks, and access to launch or scale successful businesses. Cohorts of approximately 30 women meet online and in-person to learn core business skills such as strategic planning, marketing, and finance, then discuss the material with local facilitators, business leaders, and U.S. exchange alumni mentors. 

Through its partnerships with Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School for Global Management, AWE utilizes no-cost, online learning platforms. Used by AWE since 2019 in partnership with ASU & Freeport-McMoRan, DreamBuilder -- available in English and Spanish -- teaches participants the fundamentals of starting or growing a small business from a U.S. perspective, offering modules on marketing, pricing, and bookkeeping, and includes a built-in business plan generator. The Najafi 100 Million Learners Global Initiative provides more advanced curriculum and can be used alongside or instead of DreamBuilder. 

U.S. Embassy Ottawa invites proposals to design and implement the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs in Montreal, Quebec, through a, through a training program in fall of 2025 to train 30 women business owners from under-represented backgrounds in Montreal and the broader province of Quebec. The program, in English or French will follow a hybrid model, combining the U.S. online platforms DreamBuilder and/or Thunderbird’s 100 Million Learners courses, with localized in-person mentorship and facilitation. Successful projects will harness the power of U.S. exchange alumni and/or alumni networks to help participating women and their business grow. 

The following are eligible to apply: 

·        U.S. and Canadian registered not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks, community associations, and civil society/non-governmental organizations with programming experience  

·        Alumni of U.S. government funded and U.S. government-sponsored exchange programs in Canada  

·        Non-profit media organizations 

·        Professional trade organizations  

·        Non-profit or governmental educational institutions 

·        Private educational institutions 

For-profit or commercial entities are not eligible to apply. 

Program Objectives:  

·        Train 30 women entrepreneurs from under-represented backgrounds in foundational business skills, including strategic planning, marketing, and finance, through globally recognized curricula like DreamBuilder  and/or the Najafi 100 Million Learners Global Initiative .

·        Empower program participants to create scalable business models.    

·        Expand participants’ understanding of social enterprise models.  

·        Foster participants’ ability to promote economic opportunities for women and increase the number of women-led businesses in Canada.  

·        Facilitate the development of a network of female entrepreneurs and investors in Canada to grow women businesses and drive local partnerships

·        Foster alumni engagement through follow-on activities. 

All application materials must be submitted by email to [email protected]