Empowering Caribbean Women Founders: A Path to Economic Impact

I'm more than just a cultural practitioner, strategist, or podcast host. I’m a Caribbean woman founder dedicated to creating a positive economic impact and helping other women do the same.

Traditionally, Caribbean women’s contributions have been most visible in the home, church, and school. However, our societies will only experience true transformation when women’s economic impact is felt equally and powerfully through profit-making businesses across every sector of the economy.

Why Profit-Making Caribbean Women Matter

When women thrive, everyone thrives.

A 2015 report by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) entitled, Empoderamiento Económico De Las Mujeres: Bueno Para Las Mujeres, Bueno Para Los Negocios Y Bueno Para El Desarrollo (English translation: Women's Economic Empowerment: Good for Women, Good for Business, and Good for Development) provides solid evidence for why it is important to maximize women's contributions to economic activity in the Caribbean. Here are two excerpts from the publication to demonstrate:

"Between 2000 and 2010, the growth in women's income in Latin America and the Caribbean contributed to a 30% reduction in extreme poverty."

“When additional resources are available, women invest comparatively more in food, healthcare, and education for their children than their male counterparts. This, in turn, reduces the intergenerational transmission of poverty.”[IDB, 2015]

Reimagining Support for Caribbean Women Entrepreneurs

Development organizations across the region are investing in programs like SheTrades Caribbean Hub and GRIT, targeting women entrepreneurs. Yet, even as these efforts expand, they must recognize a deeper truth:

Caribbean women still navigate a heavy cloak of expectation—the unspoken rule that our primary contributions should remain within the home, the church, and the school. For many of us, the journey toward business growth doesn’t start with access to finance or training; it begins with the quiet struggle to reassign our own energy.

More time serving the church community or more time strategizing for business?

More time meal planning or more time strategic planning?

More time setting home in order or setting the books in order?

Always searching for balance.

Often exhausted...

As a Caribbean woman founder, I have felt this struggle. I propose three things that every program seeking to assist female founders with growing their businesses should implement:

Expand Outreach Beyond Women

Invite family members and community allies to sessions and events that highlight the importance of women’s economic participation. Show how her growth benefits not just her, but the family, the church, and the community.

Provide Home-Care Stipends

Enable participants to access domestic support (cleaning, cooking, childcare, or elder care) through vetted, woman-led service partners. This simple act frees women’s minds and time for strategy and creativity.

Invest in Communications and Visibility Training

Caribbean women are much better practised at working behind the scenes. However, as a founder, stepping into the spotlight on behalf of your business is crucial. Teaching women to speak with ease and impact about their businesses in boardrooms, church halls, or community spaces strengthens their ability to lead and attract opportunities.

My Contribution: The Island Woman Manifesto

Through my consultancy, Dianne N Squires Consulting, I created Rooted and Ready™, a strategic visibility and authority program for female founders, industry experts, and leaders.

Built on my years as a performing artist, teacher, and communications strategist, it addresses two of the quietest barriers to women’s economic potential:

1. Our discomfort with being seen and heard.

2. Our tendency to spread ourselves too thin.

   
   

When we find our voice, embody our true value wherever we are, and become visible in the right places, we activate every other skill we’ve been cultivating.

We can stand confidently in profit-making. That’s the value of what Rooted and Ready teaches.

Through the Island Woman podcast, I amplify the voices of Caribbean women founders and experts, including my own, capturing our lived experiences and big ambitions.

Together, Rooted and Ready™ and the Island Woman podcast are crucial components of the Island Woman Manifesto—my contributions to a more visible, confident, and economically powerful generation of Caribbean women.

Because when women win, our societies win.

The Path Forward

The journey toward empowering Caribbean women founders is not just a personal endeavour; it’s a collective mission. By addressing the barriers that hold us back and fostering an environment where women can thrive, we can create a ripple effect of positive change.

Let’s continue to support each other, share our stories, and amplify our voices. Together, we can build a future where Caribbean women are not only seen but celebrated for their contributions to the economy and society.

To learn more about Rooted and Ready™ or how you can be a guest on the Island Woman podcast, email me at: diannensquires@diannensquires.com.

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Reference: Inter-American Development Bank (2015). Women's economic empowerment: Good for women, good for business, good for development. https://doi.org/10.18235/0006153