Since 2020, Acted has been implementing the project “Securing Women’s Economic Empowerment for Recovery and Development” (SEED) in Ukraine, with financial support from Global Affairs Canada. The project aims to enhance the economic prosperity of women and the most vulnerable and marginalized people living in Ukraine.
While financial support through grants remains a crucial element of this effort, women business owners have consistently emphasized that other gaps in skills, knowledge, mentorship and capacity-building opportunities, pose significant barriers to the growth and sustainability of their businesses.
To address these challenges, Acted supported the creation of 11 Business Advisory Centers (BACs) across Ukraine, empowering jobseekers and entrepreneurs – especially women – to make informed business decisions.
These centers offer technical trainings, digital literacy support and financial education to self-employment and small business grant holders and interested community members, ensuring they have the tools and confidence to navigate the Ukrainian business environment during wartimes.
Acted supported local civil society organisations (CSOs) to establish and run Business Advisory Centers (BACs) in Donetska, Luhanska, Volynska, Chernivetska, Vinnytska, Odeska, Chernihivska and Mykolaivska. Grants averaging CAD $42,000 per center were provided to local CSOs selected through a call for proposal, enabling them to set-up BACs that offer a wide range of tailored services to women jobseekers and entrepreneurs.
Primarily aimed at supporting Acted’s beneficiaries of self-employment grants and small business grants, the BACs are also open to the entire community. Events and training sessions are thus not limited to oblast capital cities; they are also conducted in rural and peri-urban areas and online, to ensure equitable access and increase participation, particularly for women who face mobility or time constraints.
Through the BACs, beneficiaries receive a variety of support services, including trainings, courses, and seminars on business skills such as leadership and strategic planning, and life skills like building confidence and motivation. The BACs also provide personalised mentoring on business planning, legal advice, and financial literacy, and act as resource centers with up-to-date information on grants and credit opportunities available in Ukraine.
These centers therefore play a key role in strengthening the competitiveness of women in the labour market and supporting the development of small businesses.
A place of growth and connections
Since their launch, the 11 BACs have already supported more than 3,500 beneficiaries, 95% of whom are women.
One of these BACs, operated since February 2024 by CSO “Open Society” in Vinnytsia, has become a vital resource for women rebuilding their livelihoods amid ongoing challenges.
Iryna and Viktoriia, both internally displaced from Kharkiv following the full-scale invasion in 2022, met at a BAC training on women’s entrepreneurship: “The years 2022 to 2025 have been incredibly difficult for running a business in Ukraine,” they explained.
Before the war, I worked in the garment industry for a large Netherlands company, but when it closed in 2023, I decided to start my own business — a family-run language studio — and continue consulting in the garment sector. Over the past few years, I’ve joined several BAC training programmes, each course building my skills in communication, strategic planning, and marketing. I’ve already begun applying this knowledge to my new ventures.
For Viktoriia, the BAC programme turned a hobby into a viable enterprise. “Before the war, the garment industry was just a hobby for me. But since then, it has become my main business. Thanks to Acted, I received a small business grant of CAD $13,200 in April 2024 to expand my work and purchase innovative embroidery equipment, which made a real impact. The BAC workshops and trainings were incredibly helpful — it was at one of these events that I met Iryna. She joined the project and now provides valuable consulting for my business.”
Reflecting on the programme’s impact, Viktoriia added:
Acted offers three essential forms of support: education, grants, and — perhaps most importantly — people. The connections you build here are priceless. We are constantly in touch with inspiring people, sharing ideas and clients, designing new collections, and planning future projects. That’s what keeps us moving forward.
Program undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada.