A project that aims to empower women in business has launched a new campaign on Malta’s online crowdfunding platform, ZAAR.

The ‘Astra: Empowering Women in Business’ project campaign has been launched by CORE Platform to support all women who are ready to become leaders in business and management. Under the umbrella of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Astra project targets Goal five: ‘To Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and Girls’.

“Through the Astra Project, CORE will be tackling the barriers and hurdles faced by women in the workplace head-on,” explains CORE President, Ms Helga Ellul. “The programme is designed to make the corporate world more inclusive and diverse – and therefore more productive, efficient and sustainable. CORE wants to empower women to overcome the obstacles they face on the road to obtaining positions of economic decision-making power and a seat on directorship boards.”

Mentorship is a crucial part of the Astra programme, complemented by a series of expert-led workshops that will coach participants in business development, planning and leadership skills. CORE has identified ten successful people at the heart of various sectors of business and industry to mentor ten project participants. In so doing, the project aims to create a budding network of female leaders who can support and empower each other.

Through Astra, participating companies also have an opportunity to build a pipeline of candidates who are ready to fill senior leadership roles, elevating their organisations to the next level through inclusivity and diversity.

“At CORE, we promote, debate and raise awareness about Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Astra is just the latest in a list of successful and diverse initiatives that we have launched with this mission in mind,” adds Ms Ellul.

CORE hopes to raise the first €17,900 of the €60,000 estimated project costs via the ZAAR Crowdfunding campaign. This initial sum will fund the workshops and expertise that will set Astra’s wheels in motion.

“The journey of empowering Malta’s women to become the new decision-makers and enhance the corporate world is one that we can’t wait to share with you,” Ms Ellul shares. “This ZAAR crowdfunding campaign is our way of doing that. We believe that together we can change the corporate world, by creating a springboard for women to become the new business leaders of Malta and beyond.”

More information, as well as details of how to make a donation to the ‘Astra: Empowering Women in Business’ crowdfunding campaign on ZAAR, may be found online at www.zaar.com.mt/projects/astra/.