In rural southern Ethiopia, women are starting businesses, building savings, and changing what's possible for their families. The SHE (Self-Help Entrepreneurs) network brings women together in peer groups of 20 to develop business skills, share resources, and save money. With a small business grant and the support of their group, women put those skills to work.

What is SHE?

Each SHE group has 20 women who meet regularly to build business skills, develop savings strategies, and support each other. Every woman receives a small business startup grant and learns alongside 19 other mothers who are doing the same work.

Why are SHE groups so important?

When women earn, families eat better, kids stay in school, and communities get stronger. That's not a theory. It's what we see every year in southern Ethiopia.

SHE networks work because women already know what their families need. The network gives them the skills, savings, and peer support to act on that knowledge. Business by business, group by group, women are building something that lasts.

Today, 86 SHE networks are active across southern Ethiopia — 1,720 women building businesses and savings together.

Meet Worke, a mother of three in southern Ethiopia.

After going through her SHE training, Worke carefully and thoughtfully adjusted her daily work strategies to create a sustainable and profitable vegetable business. For the first time, she is meeting her family’s needs AND saving money.