WIRE’S FOUNDER DISCUSSES HER MISSION TO BRING RURAL WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS OUT OF ISOLATION

Providing female startup founders in rural, regional and remote areas with access to face-to-face and virtual capacity-building opportunities, including mentorship, will help build Australia’s entrepreneurial muscle, according to Retha Wiesner, founder of WiRE.

Launched in early 2017 out of the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) – where Wiesner is Professor of HR Management –WiRE (Women in Rural, Regional, and Remote Enterprise) is a capacity-building program that supports regional, rural and remote (RRR) women to progress their business or community ventures.

“We help upskill RRR women in all areas of entrepreneurship through face-to-face and virtual training, networking, mentoring and workshopping activities and events,” Wiesner told Dynamic Business. “In practical terms, this involves a number of activities and events including: regional innovation pop-ups; an international/rural/urban connections forum; webinars; business growth boot camps, mentoring and peer learning digital hubs; online workshops; individualised coaching programs; and a scenario planning workshop with partners and key stakeholders. We have staff with mentoring experience and we’re bringing in external mentors too. We’ve interviewed 20 successful women entrepreneurs, some of whom will be joining WiRE.” Read more

James Harkness - Dynamic Business - 14 Sep 2017