Global Ambassadors Program Highlights from Bank of America

Pairing women entrepreneurs from around the world with mentors to help build business acumen

Pairing women entrepreneurs from around the world with mentors to help build business acumen

Anne Finucane and Mika Brzezinski discuss what it means to know your value at our Chicago event

Pairing women entrepreneurs from around the world with mentors at our New York event

Committed to building a more inclusive world through our partnership with Love Has No Labels

Committed to building a more inclusive world through our partnership with Love Has No Labels

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VIDEO: We're connecting emerging women leaders around the world to mentors and new opportunities

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VO Alyse Nelson: Women are this tremendous economic force in society. No country, no community, no corporation can afford to leave women behind and think they’re going to be able to compete in a global marketplace.

SUPER: Alyse Nelson
President & CEO, Vital Voices Global Partnership

SUPER: Rena M. De Sisto
Global Arts & Culture International CSR Executive, Bank of America Global Ambassador, United States

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Rena M. De Sisto: Women are 50% of the world’s population and they deserve to have the tools and the access to expertise to get them to a place where they are really fulfilling their potential.

GRAPHIC: The Global Ambassadors Program
A Vital Voices & Bank of America Partnership

VO Alyse Nelson: The Global Ambassadors Program is a unique, signature global mentoring program that’s really all about how do we accelerate women’s leadership and economic participation around the world.

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SUPER: Zoe Dean-Smith
Vice President, Economic Empowerment & Entrepreneurship,
Global Ambassadors Program, Vital Voices

VO Zoe Dean-Smith: The mentees that we are targeting are women who are at a tipping point in their business, professional, and leadership paths and the mentors that we bring in are women who have walked those paths already.

SUPER: Melissa Bodford
Co-founder, Chairman & CEO uBack Mentee, United States

Melissa Bodford: To learn who you are and what your weaknesses are and your strengths and what you can improve upon, you get a full immersion course into your future.

SUPER: Sarika Gupta Bhattacharyya
CEO, BD Foundation
Mentee, India

VO Sarika Gupta Bhattachary: My mentor actually helped me to think through my goals, clearly set priorities so that I can achieve success and create milestones for my business.

SUPER: Sbusisiwe Myeni
CEO, Imbeleko, Dr. Seni Myeni Foundation Mentee, South Africa

Sbusisiwe Myeni: I never thought I could get mentors that would give so much of themselves and help me to take our vision forward. It’s been a life changing experience for me.

SUPER: Xiomara Diaz Hopkins
Founder and Owner, The Garden Café, Granada Mentee, Nicaragua

Xiomara Diaz Hopkins: Being able to solve all those business challenges that you came with but also grow at a personal level. I learned how to empower people within my organization and in terms of numbers, we grew 38%.

GRAPHIC: Since 2012, more than 140 women from 65 countries have participated in the Global Ambassadors Program.

GRAPHIC: An average of 61% increase in sales & revenue growth 14% growth in the number of full-time employees 106% growth in the number of clients served

VO Rena M. De Sisto: Many of the mentees have turned around and started businesses where they’re employing more women.

VO Alyse Nelson: It doesn’t end right here with this program. The mentees will mentor others. Incredible research has shown when a woman is mentored she doesn’t just turn around and mentor just one person, she mentors many people.

Melissa Bodford: It is impressive that Bank of America invests with a partnership like Vital Voices to create this global ambassador program that truly lives up to its name because now we are all global ambassadors.

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End Card  

Bank of America
L I F E / B E T T E R C O N N E C T E D ®
Learn more: bankofamerica.com/women
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC © 2018 Bank of America Corporation.

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Global Ambassadors Program Spotlight

The Global Ambassadors Program, a Vital Voices & Bank of America partnership, brings together dozens of mentors with businesswomen from more than 40 countries, from South Africa to Ukraine.

Poland
Great Britain
Northern Ireland
Mexico
Haiti
Brazil
South Africa
Singapore
India
Qatar
Japan

“Mentoring isn’t just something one does to feel good. It’s an investment that produces real results.” –Alyse Nelson, CEO, Vital Voices

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Watch highlights and meet the participants from the twelfth Global Ambassadors Program in London

Watch highlights and meet the participants from the twelfth Global Ambassadors Program in London

Dynamic leaders joined together to share their perspectives on women in business and society.

Dynamic leaders joined together to share their perspectives on women in business and society.

GALLERY: Why an increase in employment and leadership for women will boost the Japanese economy

GALLERY: Why an increase in employment and leadership for women will boost the Japanese economy

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VIDEO: Global Ambassadors Program in Tokyo highlights role of women in the economy

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Narrator
By 2020, Japan aims to have 73% of its women active in the workforce and have women occupy 30% of managerial roles. While Japanese women are well-educated, they're the most under-utilized population of women in the developed world.

SUPER: Timothy W. Latimore, Country Executive for Japan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
70% of women, who leave the workforce, once they’ve had a child, stay out of the workforce for 10 years or more and that’s compared to 30% in the United States.

SUPER: Rena M. De Sisto, Global Arts & Culture Internationl CSR Executive, Bank of America, Global Ambassador, United States
The Japanese don't particularly like the idea of baby sitters or nannies or things like that, it's expected that the woman would stay home. But at the same time, they have a declining birth rate, they have an aging population, so in order for their economy to grow they need women back into the workplace and that's what we're here to help effect.

Opening Graphic: The Global Ambassadors Program. A Vital Voices & Bank of America Partnership

SUPER: Alyse Nelson, President & CEO, Vital Voices Global Partnership
The Global Ambassadors Program is a unique, signature, global mentoring program that's really all about how do we accelerate women's leadership and economic participation around the world. How do we use some of the top talent, women leaders, to really invest in that next generation.

SUPER: Maco Yoshioka, Founder and Executive Director, Madre Bonita, Mentee, Japan
In Japan we don't have many mentors, so I've always been looking for someone to consult and someone to talk to when I have to make difficult decisions but I didn't have anyone.

SUPER: Carol Robles-Roman, President and CEO, Legal Momentum, Global Ambassador, United States
The fact that mentoring is not part of the culture here is a challenge. Social science has shown that when women and men have mentors they will rise, they will rise professionally, they rise personally.

SUPER: Natsuki Tanaka, Founder and President, Advantage Inc., Mentee, Japan
So this program really gives me the opportunity to grow as a female entrepreneur and also have the leadership skill that I really need to go forward.

SUPER: Miwa Tanaka, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Waris Co., Ltd., Mentee, Japan
This experience was really transformative for me, for our organization.

SUPER: Satoko Kono, President, ARUN LLC, Mentee, Japan
This program encourages us to think and to move ahead with confidence.

Narrator
The Global Ambassadors Program has helped women leaders from more than 34 countries, providing specific training, mentoring and public forums to make an impact in their respective communities.

SUPER: Maria Mercedes Corrales, Freelance Consultant, Global Ambassador, Philippines
The courage of these women to step forward, take on projects-some of them are very difficult, and just their willingness to step up to the plate and be heard-that courage, it’s just inspiring for me.

SUPER: Lisa Hasegawa, Executive Director, National CAPACD, Global Ambassador, United States
It's like witnessing history, you know, I feel like it is really, I think, going to be transformational for the future of women in Japan. I really believe that.

Maco Yoshioka
We are going to be role model for next generation.

Satoko Kono
We are the ones who create the path.

SUPER: Keiko Koda, President and CEO, AsMama, Inc
We will change the world.

End Graphic: The Global Ambassadors Program. A Vital Voices & Bank of America Partnership. global-ambassadors.org.

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Women in Southeast Asia: From Poverty to Prosperity to Prominence

Burnet Tucker, mentor, and Mo Hom, mentee

Women in Southeast Asia: From Poverty to Prosperity to Prominence

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VIDEO: Our Global Ambassadors Program strives to help women entrepreneurs reach their business goals

RED THREAD PRODUCTIONS
BofA_8115_GAP_DC_Social_Edits_Xiomara_Diaz_Hopkins
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Xiomara Diaz Hopkins: Since I became part of the global ambassadors program

SUPER: Xiomara Diaz Hopkins, Founder and Owner, The Garden Café, Granada, Mentee, Nicaragua

Xiomara Diaz Hopkins: I dare to dream bigger and I know that I have this amazing network of women that are ready to help. It’s not only during the mentorship we have developed a relationship that has lasted and will last.

Xiomara Diaz Hopkins: Because of the diversity of the people that participate and the different backgrounds of the mentors, of the mentees and that exchange between women it brings down the barriers that we see in society. You see mentors and mentees all working towards developing those businesses and developing those people and there is no competition whatsoever.

Xiomara Diaz Hopkins: And that is just amazing. That is an amazing barrier to break.

END GRAPHIC:

Graphic: The Global Ambassadors Program/ A vital Voices & Bank of America Partnership/ bankofamerica.com/globalambassadors

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Enjoy firsthand accounts of our Global Ambassadors Program as it unfolds in Tokyo.

Enjoy firsthand accounts of our Global Ambassadors Program as it unfolds in Tokyo.

GLA Luncheon Hosted by Bank of America

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VIDEO: “Africa’s time is now:” Global Ambassadors share reflections

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RED THREAD PRODUCTIONS
GAP South Africa 2015-Program Overview BofA, (RED) and Vital Voices
AS PRODUCED VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

GRAPHIC: The Global Ambassadors Program – A Vital Voices & Bank of America Partnership

SUPER: Anne M. Finucane , Global Strategy and Marketing Officer, Bank of America
In South Africa Bank of America and Vital Voices came together with (RED) to connect mentors and mentees integrating these future leaders of tomorrow with one of the greatest issues that’s facing Africa

SUPER: Deborah Dugan, Chief Executive Officer, (RED), Global Ambassador, United States

Deborah Dugan: It’s a diverse group here, all connected in some way, to the fight against AIDS.

SUPER: Titi Cole, Retail Products & Underwriting Executive, Bank of America, Global Ambassador, United States

Titi Cole: They come from many parts of Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa. They’re leading on the front lines in their communities and you hear their energy and their passion for change.

Titi Cole: My mentee, Victoria, provides micro-leasing. By helping these women start their own businesses, they can then make better choices for healthcare and create a better life for themselves and their families.

Anne M. Finucane: The mentees get really meaningful skills, of how to improve their business how to improve their messaging.

SUPER: Philippa Thorne, Creative Director, Gone Rural, Mentee, Swaziland

Philippa Thorne: In the Global Ambassador Program, it was the first time I’d really seen that many women, in a room, with the same vision and direction. That was really amazing.

Deborah Dugan: Then together we went to a clinic and you see the money, that Bank of America and others have given to (RED), goes to global fund and funds innovation on the ground.

SUPER: Agnes Atim Apea, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Hope Development Initiative, Mentee, Uganda

Agnes Atim Apea: What I saw is how strategic investment in health can actually be motivating the clients and increasing access to our people in this continent.

Titi Cole: We also got to spend time with mothers who have HIV but through the medicines they have babies who are HIV negative.

Mother: I was pregnant, my first child in 2008 I find I’m positive. Then I take my nevirapine from one month until nine months. My baby she’s negative. So, I was so happy because me, I’m positive, my baby, all of them, they are negative.

Deborah Dugan: When I look at these women, I think we are one step closer to the end of AIDS.

Linda Mafu: (Singing) We are fighting for our rights, we have a right to live.

Philippa Thorne: I really feel like we can do more for women and for the communities. This program has really helped me to see that I can achieve that.

Kogie Govender: I’m leaving today with a plan for my goals.

Agnes Atim Apea: We will get back to our countries and make a contribution and show that women’s voices are part of that process.

END GRAPHIC:
Graphic: bankofamerica.com/globalambassadors

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GALLERY: Learn more about the impact of women's increased participation in the global labor force

GALLERY: Learn more about the impact of women's increased participation in the global labor force

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VIDEO: Learn how our Global Ambassadors Program is helping passionate individuals achieve their dreams

RED THREAD PRODUCTIONS
BofA_8115_GAP_DC_Social_Edits_Zoe, Rena and Pamela
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File Name: Zoe_Rena_v11.wmv

Rena M. De Sisto: I had the great pleasure of serving as a mentor to Panmela Castro in Brazil.

SUPER: Rena. M. De Sisto, Global Arts & Culture International CSR Executive, Bank of America, Global Ambassador, United States

Rena M. De Sisto: She is a very socially conscious person. She has a passion particularly around speaking out against violence against woman.

Zoe Dean-Smith: She is a graffiti artist who works in the favelas in Rio de Janerio.

SUPER: Zoe Dean-Smith, Senior Director, Global Programs, Vital Voices

Zoe Dean-Smith: And she has an organization, which has a full profit model as well as a non-profit model.

Zoe Dean-Smith: One of the misconceptions is that graffiti is something that should be a free art.

Panmela Castro (BRoll): In Brazil the name graffiti is too strong.

Rena M. De Sisto: After talking to her for a day or so I realized that this is somebody who was really needed help and how she marketed herself.

Rena M. De Sisto: And also really needed help culturally to understand that it was okay to make money

Rena M. De Sisto: And to think of this in terms of a business so that she could then do what she felt was so important socially.

SUPER: Panmela Castro, President, Rede Nami, Mentee, Brazil

Panmela Castro: My mentor is Rena from Bank of America.

Panmela Castro: She has a powerful personality. And it was super cool to work with her. She helped me a lot.

Panmela Castro: And she’s always with me helping me.

Zoe Dean-Smith: By working with her mentor in the program in Brazil she actually shifted around her entire business model.

Zoe Dean-Smith: And within two months after having attended the program with us she quadrupled her sales.

Rena M. De Sisto: Now she is so busy that she has almost no time to call me. She’s doing work for the U.N she’s doing work for the city of Rio around the World Cup.

Rena M. De Sisto: And um she basically told me in her most recent e-mail that she didn’t think she needed me anymore she had more work then she can handle. So I was fired but that was okay.

END GRAPHIC:

Graphic: The Global Ambassadors Program/ A vital Voices & Bank of America Partnership

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Stories and highlights from our Global Ambassadors Program in South Africa

Stories and highlights from our Global Ambassadors Program in South Africa

IN THE NEWS: How mentoring can change the way we talk about women in Africa

IN THE NEWS: How mentoring can change the way we talk about women in Africa

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VIDEO: Sixteen women leaders gathered for the Global Ambassadors Program in Poland

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Graphic: Eastern & Central Europe 2014

SUPER: Lidia Adamska, Lidia Adamska Business Consulting, Global Ambassador, Poland

Lidia Adamska: The last twenty-five years there was a fundamental transformation from communist to market-based economy.

SUPER: Beata Pawlowska, Oriflame, Global Ambassador, Poland

Beata Pawlowska: This transformation time was not easy, because for women, it’s not so easy to get investment to fund your idea.

Lidia Adamska: Both in Central European countries, and globally, to some extent, women are not represented enough in decision-making processes. This is the loss for society and economy.

Graphic: The Global Ambassadors Program
A Vital Voices and Bank of America Partnership

SUPER: Agnieszka Bilinska, Mentee, Poland

Agnieska Bilinka: The Global Ambassadors Program is a partnership between Vital Voices and Bank of America.

SUPER: Lorna R. Sabbia, Bank of America, Global Ambassador, United States

Lorna Sabbia: What’s unique about this program, is the combination of classroom training, followed immediately by one-on-one mentoring. And that really solidified some of the learning that we could actually turn it into a plan for action.

SUPER: Katerina Cronstedt, Mentee, Russia

Katerina Cronstedt : We are eight mentees coming from very different industries, coming from four different countries,

Victoria Butsich: There are women here from Belarus, from Russia, from the Ukraine, and from Poland.

SUPER: Eileen O’Connor, Attorney & Former Correspondent, Global Ambassador, United States

Eileen O’Connor :Historically, some of these countries have been at odds with each other. Obviously, Poland and Russia. And now, we have a political situation with Russia and the Ukraine. Yet they’re working together.

SUPER: VICTORIA BUTSICH, Mentee, Belarus

Victoria Butsich: What makes us connected, is this opportunity to see that our goals are the same. And that we are facing the same problems, and that we can solve these problems together.

Conference:
(Sheri Bronstein☺ Having these regional partners that share Olena’s values, is so important.

Katerina Cronstedt : Global Ambassadors stand for the potential that we can reach. It is not every day that you have the possibility to these kind of powerful people, who have so much knowledge. Mentoring is new to me, I have never had that opportunity before, and it’s just right when I needed it. It’s extremely empowering, to hear that, you can do that.

Anna Colton: I’ve hired thousands of people.

Lidia Adamska: I used to work for the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Victoria Butsich: They all know so much, and they want to share this knowledge, and you only ask one question and you get so many answers, so many bright ideas, this is priceless.

Agnieska Bilinka: Just five days, makes you so strong, and self-confident, and just completely a different person.

SUPER: Anna Colton, Bank of America, Global Ambassador, United States

Anna Colton: They can truly transform who they are and how they were looking at their business to make a positive impact in the world.

Victoria Butsich: I really hope that in Belarus we will transform our society to help our women to grow. I will personally contribute to that.

SUPER: Joanna Janczycka, Mentee, Poland

Joanna Janczycka : The program helped us to broaden our horizons.

SUPER: Olena Galushko, Mentee, Ukraine

Olena Galushko: I considered myself a strong leader before, and then I recognized I’m too much a single player. It was incredible for me.

Agnieska Bilinka I have the one hundred percent clarity what I should do.

Beata Pawlowska This is really the people who can change the world.

END GRAPHIC:
Graphic: The Global Ambassadors Program
A Vital Voices and Bank of America Partnership

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Highlights from our Global Ambassadors Program in Poland

I believe that women are adept at this act of connecting, and it's especially useful for women entrepreneurs on the rise.

Julie Fasone Holder,

Global Ambassador

Global Ambassadors

Mentoring women leaders to help them succeed

Pairing women entrepreneurs from around the world with mentors to help build business acumen

Anne Finucane and Mika Brzezinski discuss what it means to know your value at our Chicago event

Pairing women entrepreneurs from around the world with mentors at our New York event

VIDEO: We're connecting emerging women leaders around the world to mentors and new opportunities

Watch highlights and meet the participants from the twelfth Global Ambassadors Program in London

Dynamic leaders joined together to share their perspectives on women in business and society.

GALLERY: Why an increase in employment and leadership for women will boost the Japanese economy

VIDEO: Global Ambassadors Program in Tokyo highlights role of women in the economy

Women in Southeast Asia: From Poverty to Prosperity to Prominence

VIDEO: Our Global Ambassadors Program strives to help women entrepreneurs reach their business goals

Enjoy firsthand accounts of our Global Ambassadors Program as it unfolds in Tokyo.

GLA Luncheon Hosted by Bank of America

VIDEO: “Africa’s time is now:” Global Ambassadors share reflections

GALLERY: Learn more about the impact of women's increased participation in the global labor force

VIDEO: Learn how our Global Ambassadors Program is helping passionate individuals achieve their dreams

Stories and highlights from our Global Ambassadors Program in South Africa

IN THE NEWS: How mentoring can change the way we talk about women in Africa

VIDEO: Sixteen women leaders gathered for the Global Ambassadors Program in Poland

Highlights from our Global Ambassadors Program in Poland

GALLERY: Denise Abulafia, a Newsweek "entrepreneur to bet on"

Highlights from our Global Ambassadors Program in Northern Ireland

IN THE NEWS: Dreaming in India

Highlights from our Global Ambassadors Program in Mexico

IN THE NEWS: Memories of Mexico City

Fostering women's entrepreneurship in business and beyond

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