2025 WE Empower UN SDG Challenge

The WE Empower Challenge honors innovative women leaders from around the world who are pushing the SDGs forward through sustainable business practices and inspiring others to follow suit. The opportunity recognizes their innovative work and provides Awardees with capacity-building training sessions and opportunities to connect with an unparalleled global network to advance their enterprises. This program elevates and showcases the valuable contribution women entrepreneurs and business leaders can make toward the SDGs and solving the world’s greatest challenges.

Why Women Entrepreneurs?

• Leadership: Women business owners have a multiplier impact on their staff, their customers and their broader communities. Global initiatives such as the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law project support and guide women business owners to help advance gender equality
• Economic Contribution: Research from McKinsey demonstrates as much as $12 – $28 Trillion could be added to the global economy by 2025 if all countries bridged the gender gap. Women entrepreneurs play a critical role in global wealth creation.
• Gender-Based Violence: Violence against women and girls affects one in three girls and women worldwide, undermining both dignity and potential and inflicting huge costs – including economic cost. The economic cost of violence against women and girls underscores the dire need for commitment and action from all sectors, including the private sector. A 2015 study found that domestic violence against women and children costs the global economy $8 trillion.

What to Expect

Applicants must answer basic identifying information about themselves, their business, and their primary country of business. -Applicants must identify which world region they are located in from the following regions:

• Europe and North America
• Middle East and North Africa
• Sub-Saharan Africa
• Asia-Pacific
• Latin America and Caribbean

The application requires answers about how your work relates to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and your vision for a sustainable future.

The application asks you how you will help foster gender equality through your work.

Applicants will be asked to answer several security questions, provide social media profile information (if applicable), and agree to the terms and conditions within the contest entry form.

Finally, applicants must submit a two-minute video using the following guidelines.

Video Specifications

Please submit a short video of yourself (maximum of two minutes) providing the information and answering the questions listed below, in English. A video submission is a required part of the competition.

In designing your response, please remember that less attention is paid to the quality of your video and more attention is given to the quality of your response. It is acceptable, if you wish, to make your short video using a smartphone. Videos will not be judged past the two-minute mark.

What to answer in your video

• What is your full name?
• What is the name of your business or organization and your job title?
• In which country does your business or organization primarily operate?
• What is the mission of your business or organization?
• How does your work advance the UN SDGs that you selected?
• What is the impact of your activities on the UN SDGs?
• What do you hope to achieve if you are selected as a winner?

How to submit your video

• Video attachments may be hosted on a video site such as YouTube or Vimeo, or on file-sharing websites such as Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. 
• Please provide password in the space provided if video is password-protected or ensure video has permission to be viewed with link, especially if using Google Drive.
• You may also upload a video file. File size should not exceed 20 MB and preferred file types are MP4, MOV, and WMV.
• Video may be a maximum of two minutes. Videos will not be judged past the two-minute mark.
• Please do not upload any written material or promotional videos as they will not be considered. 
• It is acceptable to make your short video using a Smartphone.