Micro-Entrepreneurship:
Building Futures from the Ground Up

 
 

Empowering Women Through Micro-Business

In the remote borderlands of northern Colombia, women are rewriting their futures through the power of entrepreneurship. For decades, these regions have been marked by armed conflict, forced displacement, and poverty. Today, thousands of women — Venezuelan refugees, Afro-descendant and Indigenous women, and survivors of gender-based violence — are seeking not charity, but the chance to build their own path to independence.

At XOCO & our partner organization MDYM (Mujer Denuncia y Muévete), we believe entrepreneurship is freedom. We train women in crafts, food production, and other vocational skills; provide financial literacy and business coaching; and connect them to local markets. But training alone is not enough. To truly break cycles of violence and poverty, women need seed capital to launch their micro-businesses.

The Seed Capital Package

Each woman entrepreneur requires $1,000–$3,000 to start. This package includes:

  • Machinery & Equipment to set up sustainable production.

  • Supplies & Materials for the first months of business.

  • Financial Literacy & Vocational Training to build lasting independence.

With this investment, a woman can open her own business, support her children, and create a dignified livelihood.

Micro-entrepreneurship is more than income. It is dignity, empowerment, and resilience. Every woman who starts a business becomes a catalyst — lifting her family, inspiring her community, and proving that entrepreneurship can take root even in the hardest-to-reach places.

👉 Your support matters. Contribute to our micro donation program and unlock the power of women’s entrepreneurship in Colombia’s hardest-to-reach places.

 
 

Our partner organization MDYM:

Building Women’s Entrepreneurship in Colombia’s Most Challenging Frontiers

In the remote borderlands of northern Colombia, where decades of armed conflict, forced displacement, and extreme poverty have left deep scars, a quiet revolution is taking place. MDYM (Mujer Denuncia y Muévete) is a grassroots women’s network transforming survival into entrepreneurship for some of the country’s most excluded communities—Venezuelan refugees, Afro-descendant and Indigenous women, and survivors of gender-based violence.

Founded in 2018, MDYM works where few organizations dare to go—into remote rural villages and border settlements shaped by migration, violence, and neglect. Here, women often carry the double weight of trauma and economic exclusion. MDYM provides them with vocational training, coaching in micro-entrepreneurship, and connections to market opportunities. From craft-making and food ventures to small-scale trade, women are building micro-businesses that are more than income streams—they are lifelines to dignity, stability, and independence.

The MDYM network is not just about skills; it is about transformation. Each woman trained becomes part of a growing ecosystem of resilience—supporting her family, inspiring her community, and proving that entrepreneurship can take root even in the hardest-to-reach places.

For global entrepreneurs, the story of MDYM resonates: innovation and courage are born from necessity. In the hills of Nepal, the deserts of Africa, or the borderlands of Colombia, the entrepreneurial spirit is universal. MDYM is tapping into that spirit to help women reclaim their futures and create pathways out of cycles of violence and poverty.

By supporting MDYM, you are not only investing in micro-enterprises—you are investing in the world’s most determined entrepreneurs: women who are rebuilding their lives from the ground up.