The Business Council for Peace "("Bpeace") www.bpeace.org has a proven track record of helping increase the participation of women in economic activities and helping businesses grow. This piece details the approach Bpeace takes to do so and shares

As the worldwide economy begins to emerge from a three-month medically induced coma, small businesses are poised to lead the way in building back better — with more innovation and agility, and more aligned with customers.

When Covid-19 first hit, businesses responded in the way we would have expected, putting the safety of their people first before facing the loss of customers and revenue. Now as the crisis continues to ebb and flow, many are innovating.

Where’s the best place to turn for business advice in the middle of a crisis? How about to business leaders who’ve learned to thrive against a backdrop of constant crises?

Bias is not something anyone usually brags about. But for nearly two decades, Bpeace has had a bias for women-led businesses and women’s employment.

Founded by Lola and Maggie, with Victoria as the General Manager and Tatiana leading new project development, Fridas is the first Mexican restaurant-bar in Antigua, Guatemala.

Dalia is a self-made Salvadoran woman.

Every businesswoman needs a LinkedIn profile, and Bpeace's Liz Wald, Ann Callison and Marla Gitterman have fun in Beirut showing these Syrian refugees how to create an effective one.

“All of our growth has been because of networking,” says Guatemala’s Lorena Velasquez who believes most valuable thing you can do for your business is to meet people.

“Claudia had great data on her Salvadoran business which made it easy for us to do our analysis. We tested her products. We visited her competitors to understand her positioning.”

“Bpeace is aiming to prevent poverty and violence and that is what I’m trying to do, too.”

We analyzed data from 100 Fast Runner businesses in the Bpeace portfolio to assess the impact of our philanthropist / skillanthropist network on local communities and women-led businesses. The findings exceeded even our own expectations.

After three trips on behalf of Bpeace, Skillanthropist Justin Harlow still enjoys helping Fast Runners find innovative ways to solve their most sticky business problems.

“I believe that if everyone could have a job and purpose in life, violence and tensions would go down.”

In the midst of the one of the world’s worst refugee crisis, the Bpeace community is planting some of the first seeds of hope.