Wednesday, March 3, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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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.=