Influencing Policy Development

Train 2000 is committed to encouraging improvements in women's enterprise support services and therefore acts as on going policy influencer at a regional, national and European level.

Our Approach is to:

  • Provide leadership and vision in the sustainability of gender specific support infrastructure
  • Undertake research to provide a strong evidence base regarding gender specific models.
  • Highlight the issues in terms of mainstream enterprise service design, accessibility, gender sensitivity, and diversity profiles.
  • Raise standards and quality of levels of service provision for entrepreneurial women
  • Share the success stories of sustainable women's enterprises, promoting the positive economic impact of women owned businesses
  • Build strategic partnerships to raise awareness
  • Support the creation of social enterprises as an entrepreneurial option for women.

Our Delivery

Train 2000 influences policy by gathering information, highlighting issues and identifying evidence based solutions to disseminate appropriately, sharing Best Practice both nationally and internationally.

We achieve this by representing Train 2000's view on women's economic development issues through, in particular, producing policy documents and responding to policy consultation, participating in policy think tanks, conferences, seminars and exhibitions.

Institute for Small Business And Entrepreneurship (ISBE)

ISBE is the UK network for individuals and organisations driving small business

and entrepreneurship research, enterprise support and advice, entrepreneurship education, and for those who formulate, deliver and evaluate policy in this area.

ISBE's annual conferences have long been celebrated as the place to go for the newest and most relevant research, up to the minute thinking and debate on small business development and entrepreneurship. For this reason they attract some of the most eminent practitioners, policy makers and researchers from all around the world.

Maggie O'Carroll, Chief Executive of Train 2000, was invited to present papers at both the 2007 and 2008 ISBE conferences.

Demonstrating how far a field the experiences of Train 2000 are recognised and respected, Maggie was also recently invited to contribute to the debate, as a key note speaker at an international conference held in Slovenia, attended by senior Ministers, local politicians and academics, as well as practitioners in the field of women's enterprise.

Mayo County Enterprise Board, Ireland

Train 2000 hosted a 2 day visit to Liverpool by team from the county enterprise team. The purpose was to share practice in the delivery of effective enterprise support services.

AWE Equal, Sweden

Train 2000 led a one-day seminar on social policy and the UK Women's Strategic Enterprise Framework, focusing on its transferability in the Swedish context.