Collaborative Project Empowers Women Entrepreneurs in Ecuador

Jul 5, 2023

Erik, Aysha, and Priscilla on a trail along a lake with lush, forested hills in the background.

Erik Nelson ’23, a computer science major, and Aysha Simmonds ’23, a Spanish major, traveled with Priscilla Jiménez, assistant professor of computer science, to Ecuador over spring break, 2023. Simmonds and Nelson, along with Abby Lynch ’24 (anthropology), Ishita Sarraf ’25 (computer science), and Zack Walsh ’25 (sociology/Spanish), volunteered to assist with a collaborative community service project – Empowering Women Affected by Immigration Crisis to Boost Their Economy Via Entrepreneurship Education – that Jiménez was involved in with the faculty and students of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities (Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas) at ESPOL (Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral), a public university in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

The statuesque metal letters spelling ESPOL are as tall as our three travelers, as they pose on the university campus. — Our travelers at the ESPOL campus.

The volunteering students learned about the foundations of entrepreneurship by completing LinkedIn training courses and workshops hosted by the Grinnell Chamber of Commerce and the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership. Another learning goal for the volunteers was to identify critical stages and gaps in the learning process and deepen their knowledge of how entrepreneurship concepts could be applied in a very different situation and environment than their local community or home country, such as people living in impoverished neighborhoods in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Then they worked with Professor Jiménez to develop a website and material to contribute to an entrepreneurship workshop for immigrant women in Guayaquil. They created worksheets and multiple choice quizzes for entrepreneurship learning modules, including generating ideas, financial fundamentals, leadership, logistics and operations, and marketing and social media.

An elevated view of two populous hills in Guayaquil, Ecuado. — Guayaquil is the second largest city in Ecuador and a main port into the country.

“The main purpose of the trip to Guayaquil,” says Jiménez, “was to collaboratively teach the modules part of the entrepreneur workshop.” Simmonds and Nelson would assist workshop participants in using the worksheets they helped develop. Simmonds also delivered a session on using Canva to create marketing material for social media. During the workshop, Nelson assisted with website updates.

Nelson reflects on the project: “As we worked for several months leading up to the trip, I learned a lot about entrepreneurship. It was extremely interesting to experience the entrepreneurship workshops where culture, especially one that I didn’t have much knowledge of, is such an important facet of a successful entrepreneurial venture. The ESPOL students were all extremely impressive to me and demonstrated such a high level of professionalism and knowledge, which was a great strength of the workshops. In terms of Ecuador itself, it was an extremely valuable experience beyond just the workshop. I am also happy that I was able to meaningfully contribute to a project for social good in the world.”

Simmonds says of her time in Ecuador: “Witnessing the impact of migration on these communities in Guayaquil highlighted the social and economic difficulties faced by marginalized populations. This experience has deepened my understanding of the complex issues related to migration and has encouraged me to be more socially conscious and empathetic towards the challenges faced by vulnerable communities. Overall, this trip has been a transformative experience that has enriched my understanding of entrepreneurship, leadership, and global challenges.”

Project participation by Jiménez and the students from Grinnell was supported in part by the Institute for Global Engagement and the Wilson Center for Innovation and Leadership.

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