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WeConnect International

Ecosystem Research and Roundtable Management India

About We Connect International

  • WEConnect International is a global network that connects women-owned businesses to qualified buyers around the world.
  • WEConnect International – AsiaPac Supplier Diversity and Inclusion programs.
  • Helps women-owned businesses succeed in global value chains, Equal opportunity as men to create wealth and ensure the sustainable prosperity of their communities.

About the Program  

 

  • WEConnect International is working with the United States Department of State Bureau South Central Asian Affairs (State SCA) on a project called “Women’s Empowerment through Economic Inclusion”. 
  • Generate long-term opportunities for Women Owned Businesses (WOBs) to connect and conduct business with large buyers, including local and multinational corporations, government agencies, and non-profit and non-governmental organizations. 
  • The first phase – ecosystem mapping effort to identify the needs and capacity of WOBs, corporations and other key stakeholders, and key market linkages in India. 
  • The analytic approach “Why are so few women business owners winning procurement contracts from large organizations in India?” 
  • Includes desktop research conducted online, market research assembled through qualitative surveys and interviews, and a virtual roundtable to qualify research findings with pertinent stakeholders.

Program Activities – TOR Overview

Program Methodology

Three T Workplan*

Three T Workplan*

   Activities

Deliverables

A. Organization and planning 

  1. Submit work plan including expected completion dates for deliverables. 
  2. Develop and maintain a master contact list with phone numbers and email addresses of buyer representatives, WOBs, and staff of relevant business associations. 

Prepare and submit workplan with dates for deliverables within 5 days of signing the contract Share the template for master contact list 

B. Literature review 

  1. Conduct a literature review on economic development opportunities, policies and issues affecting women owned SMEs and identify organizations in India with a common purpose or mission to advancing women-owned businesses access to markets that may be good partners for WEConnect International. 
  2. Review and reference government policies that pertain to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises and provide project-specific recommendations for expanding gender-inclusive sourcing in India. 
  3. Draft brief on the review (max 3 page) 

Brief of literature review covering the points B (i and ii) – _3-page report 

 

C. Obtain additional responses for ‘Buyer Survey’ and ‘WOB Survey’ 

  1. Assist the Project Lead in collecting a minimum of 30 Buyer Survey responses and 100 WOB Survey responses, through distribution of the online survey via email and through relevant contacts, promotion on social media platforms, and by conducting calls within India to socialize the project and explain the survey effort. 

Completed cleaned survey response from 30 buyers and 100 WOBs in electronic format 

 

Three T Workplan*

 

Activitiest

   Deliverables

D. Analyze survey responses and draft preliminary Summary of Findings 

  1. Synthesize and analyze raw data from the Buyer Survey and WOB Survey (this data will be downloaded from SurveyMonkey and shared by WEConnect International). 
  2. Draft and deliver report that incorporates previously conducted desktop research and summary of findings from the survey (this will be provided by WEConnect International). 
  3. Incorporate edits to the Summary of Findings as directed by Project Lead.

Final report on the research in the template agreed with WEConnect International 

 

E. Host interviews to qualify survey findings 

  1. Prepare document with names and professional details of interviewees and vet with Project Lead. 
  2. Draft list of interview questions and vet with Project Lead. 
  3. Host 4-5 interviews with strategically selected corporate representatives, WOBs, and heads of organizations to qualify survey findings and build deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities for gender-inclusive sourcing. 
  4. Record each interview (with permission of interviewees) or take notes; share any recordings or notes with Project Lead


Questionnaire for interview 

Cleaned notes and recording from the interviews 

 

Three T Workplan*

 

  Activities

   Deliverables

F. Organize and host a virtual roundtable 

  1. Organize a 1.5-hour virtual roundtable in April 2021 for up to 15 attendees (including a minimum of 6 buyers) to qualify findings from the survey and interviews, and to showcase progress made and further engage stakeholders in the project. 
  2. Draft Roundtable agenda, invitation lists, run-of-show document or moderator guide, and invitations to be sent out. Vet these files with Project Lead. 
  3. Create Roundtable PowerPoint presentation (featuring findings from the surveys and interviews) and vet with Project Lead. 
  4. Send out invitations 3 weeks before the event and manage correspondence with participants before, during, and after the event 
  5. Record the event (with permission of attendees) or assign a note-taker; share any recordings and notes with Project Lead. 
  6. Draft and deliver updated Summary of Findings incorporating new learnings from the interviews and the Roundtable. 

      e)  Incorporate edits to the Summary of Findings as    directed by Project Lead. 


Presentation for the round table discussion 

Organize and host roundtable discussion 

Final report of the round table discussion

G. Draft Final Briefing 

  1. Prepare 2-3 short profiles (1/2 page of text for each profile) of buyer organizations as instructed by Project Lead (profiles will be assembled based on notes from interviews conducted by Contractor or by Project Lead).

Submission of short profiles 

 

H. Additional Tasks

  1. Join weekly meetings with the Project Lead to coordinate timely completion of deliverables, raise any issues or risks, and to request further support or guidance. 
  2. Proactively connect WEConnect International to corporate representatives, WOBs, and staff of business associations that can benefit from the project.

 

 

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