General Small Business: Carolanne Rushe, Sweet Beat, Sligo

Sweet Beat is a family-run planet-first café, featuring inventive and creative plant-based dishes available to eat in or take-away, including a Click + Collect service. The café also houses an eco-retail home and lifestyle collection which is available to buy online or in-store. Opened by Carolanne Rushe in April 2015 the award-winning café has a thriving lunchtime trade offering fresh salads, fermented drinks, and daily specials. Carolanne has also created a range of Sweet Beat plant-based dips which are stocked in local retail stores. She also supports other local producers by selling their produce at Sweet Beat.

"The last two years have been incredibly challenging to navigate. We are so excited to be given the opportunity to have support through the grant program to help guide us through the next year and beyond and allow us to elevate our business to a nationwide platform and potentially look at exporting opportunities."

Community: Rachel Wong, Monday Girl, Ontario

The Monday Girl Social Club is an annual digital membership to revolutionize the way young professional women build their careers in Canada through networking opportunities, resume reviews, coaching, a resource library, courses, job board, mentorship, and more. The goal is to narrow the Networking Gap and to provide more opportunities and accessibility for young diverse women in Canada. 

Co-Founders, Rachel Wong and Istiana Bestari, started Monday Girl in 2017 and launched the first-ever career platform for women in 2021 upon noticing that networking was becoming an increasingly exhausting and awkward experience for diverse women during COVID. 

“Monday Girl has partnered with top Canadian brands including Google, Wealthsimple, Scotiabank, and Shopify to name a few, and has sold out over 18 in-person events over the past 2 years, with the largest event hosting over 250+ attendees.”

Manufacturing: Wanona Satcher, Mākhers Studio, Atlanta

Mākhers Studio is a green manufacturing and design-build firm that specializes in converting shipping containers into affordable housing, entrepreneurial spaces and critical community centers. Their unique modular shipping container spaces aim to transform how we build community, employ locally and make meaningful connections. Wanona, CEO and Founder, and her team have recently been re-imagining their business model and brand identity to better serve their purpose. 

“[The Visa She’s Next Grant] has allowed us to grow exponentially and expand our audience. The consistent coaching has helped me gain confidence as a female entrepreneur, not only to put myself out there and speak with other entrepreneurs but also to take the risk to be disruptive.”

Social Good – Non-profit: Jai Bharathi Addepalli, Mowo Social Initiatives, India

MOWO is a non-profit social enterprise that enables women in mobility by offering them motor training skills and related livelihood opportunities. Jai and her team also work on policy advocacy to empower women to be a part of the rapidly growing $800 Billion logistic market. They also aim to leverage technology and build a community portal designed for women from lower-income groups to explore opportunities and engage with peers in the logistics industry. 

“As an avid motorcyclist, I have experienced immense freedom and empowerment from my passion for motorcycles and travel. Riding more than 1,00,000 kms on my motorcycle across many countries in Asia & America. This passion combined with my team’s experience in training and brand strategy will help us in marching towards a greater impact. 

Our mission is to create a generation of confident women who are equipped with mobility as a skill for empowerment and employment & thus make our roads safer for women.”