Raquel Peña leads graduation of 116 female entrepreneurs from the MujerEs Avanza program

Santo Domingo, RD.– In an event led by the Vice President of the Republic, Raquel Peña, 116 businesswomen received their certification after completing the MujerEs Avanza training program, an initiative of the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and Production, in partnership with the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Mipymes (MICM) and the Mipymes Center of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM). During the ceremony, the vice president highlighted that this project reflects what can be achieved when different institutions come together to open more opportunities for the talent, leadership, and entrepreneurial capacity of Dominican women.

You may be interested in: Raquel Arbaje deeply regrets the death of Jorge Mera

“This joint effort between the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and Production, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Mipymes, and the Mipymes Center of this, my alma mater, demonstrates that when the public sector, the private sector, and academia work together, it is possible to build transformative opportunities for business development,” Peña expressed.

For her part, the president of the Santo Domingo Chamber, Lucile Houellemont, explained that the program arises with the purpose of offering training and support to Dominican businesswomen, responding to real challenges such as access to financing, digitalization, the construction of strategic networks and business visibility.

The MujerEs Avanza program was developed with the participation of nine facilitators, six of them international, and included thirty hours of synchronous training and more than 1,200 hours of advisory sessions. "This program demonstrates what happens when the private sector, the State, and academia work together: real opportunities are created that transform lives, businesses, and communities," Houellemont expressed. For her part, the Vice Minister of Industrial Development of the MICM, Gianna Franjul, affirmed that the institution has firmly assumed that the full participation of women in the economy constitutes a strategic priority for the country's development. In the welcome speech, the Vice-Rector of Research and Innovation of PUCMM, Virginia Flores Sasso, highlighted that graduation represents the result of an alliance that demonstrates how joint work can generate positive impacts on the lives of Dominican families. Among the topics covered in the MujerEs Avanza program are business purpose, effective communication, organizational leadership, business model, finance for decision-making, artificial intelligence applied to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), digital marketing, and access to financing.

Only guild with the Equalizing RD seal

During her intervention, Lucile Houellemont highlighted that the Santo Domingo Chamber is the only guild certified with the Igualando RD seal at the Gold level. Furthermore, it reported that women represent 65% of the institution's workforce, 62% of the sub-managerial positions, 50% of the management team, and 73% of the promotions recorded in 2025.