Interview with Veronica Jimenez, CEO and co-founder of Poliestudios

Poliestudios is one of the projects participating in ‘Raise for Impact’ - Social Nest Foundation’s training program for impact entrepreneurs.

Poliestudios is dedicated to continuing education and advanced level training in a variety of areas such as psychology, communication, education, digital marketing and systems.

The platform provides students personalized interaction with each of its users, as well as services for creating and producing academic events.

We interviewed Veronica Jimenez, its Co-Founder and CEO, to learn more about this entrepreneur, who has brought onboard strategic partners in countries such as Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina and Spain. Veronica tells us about the challenges she has had to overcome when it comes to entrepreneurship and what her professional development and project have gained from the Raise for Impact program.

How did the idea to create Poliestudios come about?

Poliestudios was basically started up to lend support to educational development, especially that of Ecuadorian and Latin American women. One of the biggest challenges and obstacles to empowering women is the lack of job opportunities, which is why I so deeply wished to help out women who, for whatever reason, could not make it into the higher education system. At Poliestudios, we provide advanced training that will enhance professional profiles while crucially not affecting day-to-day activities. Thanks to the 24/7 availability of the platform, users can study at their own pace and make it fit into their schedules. Professionals who receive continuous training become more appealing in the job market and thus boosts their income, which benefits not just women but the entire family as well.

What challenges do you face when it comes to measuring your impact?

The main challenge we face when measuring our impact is figuring out how to properly follow up on our students once they have completed one of our training sessions, since they often change phone numbers or email addresses and we lose contact. It can sometimes be difficult to know how much professional growth and increased income results from obtaining the certification, so we do not know the real impact in terms of external benefits.

What Sustainable Development Goals have you set forth as goals at Poliestudios and why?

As part of Poliestudios’ mission, we have set 3 Sustainable Development goals:

● Quality Education
● Gender Equality
● No Poverty

These three goals encompass not only our business policy, but also our business ideal. Through quality education for women, we greatly reduce the gender gap in the labor sector and thus bring an end to poverty for the families who rely on our work.

What are you gaining from the Raise for Impact program?

The most important things we’re gaining from Raise for Impact are self-confidence, statistics analysis, preparation for when an investor comes; it has helped me clearly understand the purpose and how to link it to a win-win idea.

The percentage of women entrepreneurs with technology-based startups is still much lower than it is for men. As a woman entrepreneur, what challenges have you had to face?

There is, unfortunately, still a misconception that widens the inequality gap; I’ve faced many obstacles along the way; criticism, derogatory comments, a lack of opportunities on certain projects and I’ve been put to the test often. But I have always managed to take on each challenge with courage and optimism. The important thing is to firmly yet kindly demonstrate that we are born technological women, who are making more women stronger. And that technology is the best way of both spreading information and closing the poverty gap that women in Latin America face every day.

What do you think it would take for there to be more women entrepreneurs like yourself?

Work on building confidence and empowering women through education; only then will we be able to raise those numbers.

What would you recommend to someone thinking about becoming an entrepreneur?

To put your fear aside. That is the main obstacle to entrepreneurship, believing in your potential and the willingness to work hard.