Dear colleague – as you may know, Pauline Dixon, Karen Ross  and Bob Newbery have recently been awarded some pump-priming funding from the Global Challenges Academy to set up the Women in Development Network (WiDeN) Our longer-term plan for WiDeN is to be able to respond to future calls under GCRF which focus on gender and the economy and in particular, looking at the ways in which women are empowering themselves (and the families and communities) through their entrepreneurial activities. We hope to be able to answer fundamental questions which relate to the institutions, cultural norms, structures and strategies which enable such activity to develop and flourish or which, on the other hand, hinder women’s economic ambitions.

In the short-term, however, we would like to invite anyone who is working in the broad area of gender and development, gender and the economy or gender and entrepreneurial activity or indeed any other area of gender-based research which seems relevant, to come along to a lunchtime meeting to exchange experiences and interests and hopefully identify some initial ideas for collaboration.

WiDeN is at a very preliminary stage of its development, everything is possible, so if you’d like to get involved in something interesting which could become brilliant, please come along on Wednesday 8 May (1300-1430,  Armstrong 3.38), and let’s start talking.  Lunch provided. Please register here so we can organise catering and avoid creating a sandwich mountain.