US Launches Women Entrepreneurs Summit to Rebuild Ukraine

As part of the United States’ continued commitment to Ukraine, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) announced today the launch of the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) AWE4Ukraine Summit in Ljubljana, Slovenia on June 10-13. The summit, hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana, which brings together 73 Ukrainian AWE alumni, will leverage U.S. business expertise and technology to help revitalize Ukraine’s entrepreneurial landscape and create sustainable economic growth by further developing the alumni’s business acumen and networks.

Although some participants completed the AWE program in Ukraine prior to Russia’s invasion, many Ukrainian alumni were forced by Putin’s brutal war to complete the program in other European countries, including Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Portugal, and Slovenia. The summit will feature workshops, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, focusing on fostering cross-border collaboration to create an enduring peer-to-peer community amongst Ukrainian exchange alumni of AWE. U.S. Speaker Kate Isler, CEO of e-commerce site TheWMarketplace, will deliver the keynote address.

As a flagship program promoting entrepreneurship through increased trade, AWE aligns with the U.S. Strategy on Global Women’s Economic Security, which lays out a vision in which women and girls around the world are able to fully, meaningfully, and equally contribute to, and benefit from, economic growth and global prosperity.

The government and people of Slovenia have demonstrated a tremendous amount of support for the Ukrainian people during Russia’s war of aggression. The United States applauds Slovenia for the warm welcome it has offered to so many refugees and the assistance it has provided to Ukraine.