Social School for Women’s Empowerment

Before structuring our work around today’s key focus areas, Danone Ecosystem developed pioneering initiatives. Among them, our Inclusive Distribution projects played a central role in empowering vulnerable populations and creating opportunities for local entrepreneurship. 

These early projects laid essential foundations for our current model: people and their communities are at the heart of everything we do. We strive to build truly sustainable initiatives by training and strengthening the capabilities of key professionals and the communities they serve. 

In Spain, women over the age of 40 face a high unemployment rate, increasing their economic vulnerability and risk of social exclusion. At the same time, domestic violence has become a growing social challenge, with 1,917,000 women reporting having been victims of gender‑based violence, according to the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality (2011). 

Launched in 2012 with the support of the Danone Ecosystem Fund, Fundación Ana Bella and Danone Spain, the Social School for Women’s Empowerment project was co-created to support female victims of domestic violence in re‑entering the job market. A dedicated school was established, offering training in products and sales while focusing on rebuilding self‑esteem and fostering social empowerment. 

Companies offered participants the opportunity to gain hands‑on work experience as point‑of‑sale ambassadors through two‑year contracts, enabling them to progressively rebuild their confidence, develop professional skills, and reintegrate into the labor market step by step.