The Good Update - March 2024
Dear Good Return Supporters,
It was almost as if the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day was written for Good Return. The UN’s rallying cry to ‘count her in’ and accelerate investment in women captures exactly what drives our team every day. For us, to ‘count her in’ means to bring her into the economy, and to do this we need to provide her with access to responsible finance and the tools and resources to manage her money.
At Good Return, we believe a vital step to build investment in women is for investors and the financial sector to see and value her potential. Women continue to be underserved and unseen by financial institutions, despite running businesses, managing staff, and making and selling products (all while caring for family). We work with financial institutions to help them to understand the needs of women clients and design products and services to support women in building businesses and their livelihoods.
Thank you for sharing our vision, seeing her potential and working with us to 'count her in'.
Shane Nichols, CEO
Speaking up for International Women’s Day
Good Return’s gender champions were out and about speaking at a number of International Women’s Day events. They highlighted the urgency around ‘counting her in’, and told audiences about the work we are doing to build access to finance and skills for women in our region.
Check out the gallery to see what we spoke about.
Knowing the market gets this fish farmer ahead
Ms Seng Eang has 20 years’ experience in the fish farming and fish selling business. Despite this, when she tried to get a loan from a local bank to grow her business and livelihood, she was faced with a complicated and drawn-out process with little support.
Mrs Eang’s daughter-in-law sorting fish
Ms Eang became a client of Chamroeun, Good Return’s loan guarantee partner in Cambodia. Ms Eang was impressed by how accessible the process was, and that the team from Chamroeun understood her needs and position.
With her loan of USD$40k, Ms Eang has expanded her fish wholesale business - buying more product from Phnom Penh and selling in the local market in Kampong Cham. She now has three employees helping her with this work, who transport produce and help to dry out and preserve the extra fish they don’t sell. She has also extended her operations in raising her own fish - creating new ponds, buying fingerlings and investing in a water pump to add more water into the ponds during the dry season.
Financial backing has given Ms Eang confidence to persevere and push for growth and she is now adding a duck farming business to the mix to diversify her revenue sources. She is making key financial decisions that will ultimately benefit her children and her husband, and has inspired her daughter-in-law to consider business for herself. Find out more about our Impact Investment Fund.
Kathleen Cox is shaping the way women do business in the Kimberley region
Kathleen Cox lives on country at her community Goombaragin on the Dampier Peninsula, north of Broome. Kathleen owns and operates an eco-tourism business.
Kathleen is an important part of the Maganda Makers business club, a collective of women entrepreneurs in the Kimberley region. The Maganda Makers is run through a partnership between Good Return, Menzies Foundation and Indigenous-led business Kimberley Jiyigas.
A true role model for Indigenous women in business, Kathleen provides advice to other club members on how to get involved in the tourism industry and cultural tourism. She has hosted some of the Maganda Makers for a workshop at her eco retreat and has made use of the club to develop her own business growth ideas.
“I am a strong advocate for grassroots tourism on country and believe, through business, my people can control their own destiny, create their own autonomy, and become financially independent,” says Kathleen.
Kathleen believes networking is vital and the Maganda Maker Business Club is a the right platform to encourage, engage and give lift to all women interested in venturing.
“My business goals are linked to my values, a symbiotic relationship where one is connected to the other. If it is to be, then it’s up to me – that’s my motto – and with Maganda Makers by my side, anything is possible to achieve.” Meet more amazing Maganda Makers here.
Cata joins us in the Philippines to understand the needs of shop and store business owners
Good Return recently welcomed Catalina Teresa Deveza-Yap as our new Financial Education Officer in the Philippines.
Catalina has jumped straight into field work, getting to know potential financial capability learners in San Miguel and Janiuay, in central Philippines. The people she is meeting are owners of vegetable market stalls, fish vendors and sari-sari (small convenience store) owners, and are clients of our local partner, Taytay Sa Kauswagan (A Microfinance NGO) Inc. (TSKI), a local microfinance organisation in the Philippines.
Cata is helping us to understand the current level of financial literacy of local business owners, as well as their access to smartphones, social media accounts, and their confidence in using digital tools. This will guide our curriculum and resource development and serve as a benchmark for evaluating the impact of our work.
Welcome to the Good Return family Catalina!