This story is part of a series of profiles of Global Women in Management alumni who have gone through training and mentorship with Counterpart International and brought the lessons learned back to their home countries, where they are changing the world for the better.

Every successful business starts with an idea, or seed, that grows with each step. Our Global Women In Management program equips women entrepreneurs from around the world with the skills, knowledge, and resources to plant the roots of a thriving enterprise.

At a recent Global Women In Management workshop in Suriname, participants learned how to develop a business plan.

Christien Naarden is using the knowledge and skills she gained from the Global Women In Management workshop to help other women entrepreneurs in Suriname.

Through a series of nine steps designed to help clarify a business’s value proposition and potential customers, young entrepreneurs honed fundamental business skills. Christien Naarden, the director of the Father Ahlbrinck Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to community development in Suriname’s hinterland, said “It helps you to really think your business plan through and get to know [your] business through the process.”

Naarden is also a professional trainer and coach in neuro-linguistic programming and family constellation, an alternative method of therapy. She specializes in private and group coaching for women from indigenous communities who own small businesses, and who usually don’t have regular opportunities to learn the necessary skills to ensure their businesses make a profit. Her organization provides training and coaching for women entrepreneurs.

The specific skills and knowledge Naarden learned in the workshop included business model design process, analysis of value propositions, customer segments, cost structure, revenue, and marketing. She plans to use the knowledge she gained to help other Surinamese women improve business plans, so that they can continue to build their own plans.

“The structure of my coaching practice [is] greatly enhanced because of the knowledge that Counterpart has [provided] during [the] training,” she said.

Her commitment to the training exemplifies her dedication to empowering women in Maroon and indigenous communities in Suriname.