ASU’s Thunderbird School of Global Management is supporting the U.S. Department of State’s Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE), a program that promotes women’s economic opportunities and ensures that they have the capabilities and resources necessary for equitable economic participation. 

AWE leverages Thunderbird’s DreamBuilder, a free online training and certification program for aspiring women entrepreneurs that covers the foundational business knowledge needed to start and grow small businesses. As the central curriculum for AWE, Dreambuilder is being implemented through U.S. embassies across the world, reaching women in more than 80 countries. 

Dreambuilder is helping to drive AWE’s highly successful results: Among women who complete the AWE program, 74 percent increase their business earnings and 29 percent hire more staff. Independent of AWE, DreamBuilder has reached more than 100,000 women in 135 countries and provided a cumulative 1 million hours of training. DreamBuilder’s inclusive platform offers lessons in both English and Spanish and has been used worldwide not only by women, but also by men and children pursuing entrepreneurial goals. Building on seed funding provided by the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation, DreamBuilder’s content has been leveraged by more than 100 organizations.