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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (March 3, 2021)
Wednesday, March 3, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 13 Julie Escobar and Gordon Robertson snowshoeing in the Three Creeks area — one of their favorite activities. PHOTO PROVIDED articipants including Fruit Logistica from Berlin. level? As we grow GWF, we are developing programs that give value- added to these women.= Currently, there are over 1,000 active members in GWF9s social media outlets. The nonprofit part- ners with high-level trade shows in the agriculture industry. They host events every two to three months that bring awareness and empower women around the world. GWF has partnered with organiza- tions like Global Rights for Women, which helps with domestic abuse. <We recognized there9s a lot of domestic violence, especially with the pandemic, and explored how we could help,= she said. GWF is also partnering with the United Nations to empower women in Africa. <We train women in Kenya in business skills like finance and sup- ply-chain. With GWF educational resources, they9re thinking bigger about their business, because they know how business works,= said Escobar. <The UN partnership focused on small farmers. The pro- gram called She-Trades included cre- ating webinars to train women in all aspects of business and agriculture. We trained more than 400 women in Africa,= said Escobar. With GWF9s training, a woman who took the webinar was able to acquire customers in Europe and export her avocados. She expanded her business and provided faster pay- ment to the small growers she works with. <In Africa, small growers own less than a hectare of land. Usually, the women work the land while the men go away for jobs. With additional skills, the women can better feed their families and create a win-win in the supply chain,= Escobar said. Working with women and agricul- tural entities, Escobar knows every situation is different. China or Asia or Europe require culturally focused ways to achieve gender equality. <We want to have a global dis- cussion to promote gender equality,= Escobar said. <A lot of data says with 10 billion people by 2030, half the population will be women. Eighty to 90 percent of the decisions about feeding families are via women. They have the purchasing power. They need more room at the corporate level in marketing and packaging.= Even though her nonprofit operates on a global scale, Escobar says they9re open to networking on a local level. <I know there are a lot of retired professionals in the region. Maybe there are some local women who could give pro bono to the organization?= Escobar is happy to talk to women with skills in marketing, leadership strategy, business 101, finance, and supply-chain. PHOTO PROVIDED <You don9t even need to be an expert, but enjoy being connected to a global community,= she said. Those who want to get involved may email Escobar julie.escobar@ globalwomenfresh.com. <Reach out and we9ll start the con- versation,= she said. <I know there are a lot of women who feel a connection to supporting gender equality around the world. Or they might be interested in helping to end domestic violence, or our work with the UN. We can con- nect them to a bigger mission.= Helping GWF get exposure and tell the story is another way to help. <The more talent we bring to the organization, the better for the orga- nization and the more women we can reach,= Escobar said. The pandemic has forced over two million women to leave their jobs because of family obligations. <More than ever, we need to sup- port women,= Escobar said. <We want to work with corporate companies, like avocado companies, and encour- age them to think about what they9re doing to support their women employ- ees. We9re trying to share those ideas with the global community.= Escobar is settling into her new life in Sisters Country. <We9re looking forward to sum- mer,= she said. <This is our first winter in Sisters. It9s been fun with all of the great activities around like snowshoe- ing with Lola and cross-country ski- ing. But summer is really one of my favorite seasons... I can9t wait to wear shorts and sandals and go for a good paddleboard session at the lake.=