The US Embassy in Cairo, in a partnership with She Can and the Creative Innovation Center in Giza, Silicon Valley expert Nancy Hayes participated at the summit to add a global perspective to the event.
Hayes delivered a keynote that combined personal experience, data-driven insights, and a strong call for collective action.
From the beginning, Hayes set an encouraging tone by praising both the scale of participation and the courage it represents.
She said, "I am so impressed by this turnout," adding, "You should be proud of yourself because the entrepreneurial step is a scary one, an unsure one, a challenging one, but it can be most rewarding."
She then encouraged attendees to acknowledge their initiative, adding, “Give yourself a hand for taking the step to come here.”
After that, she built on this message by reflecting on her 14 years of experience working with women entrepreneurs.
“Women were starting 40% of all new businesses, mostly because they see a future they want to create,” she noted.
However, she contrasted this progress with a key challenge, explaining, “Women were not getting funded and, as a result, could not grow their companies.”
This gap motivated her to invest in more than 40 women-led ventures and later focus on improving access to funding.
To strengthen her argument, Hayes pointed to research and performance data. “Companies that had at least one woman on the founding team outperformed the all-male teams by 63%,” she said.
She also highlighted investment returns, noting that “women return 78 cents for every dollar invested; male founders return 31 cents.”
These figures, she emphasized, reflect untapped potential rather than a lack of capability.
Moving from challenges to solutions, Hayes stressed the importance of collaboration among women.
She explained that meaningful progress has come from women supporting each other and stepping into roles as investors.
“Partly because women have worked together… and encouraged more women to become investors,” she said.
Referring to her work with How Women Lead, she outlined a clear approach: “Be fierce advocates for each other, say yes to helping another woman entrepreneur, reinforce her voice.”
As she concluded her speech, Hayes offered a concise piece of advice that captured her philosophy.
“Dream big, but revise often,” she said, highlighting the importance of flexibility and continuous improvement in entrepreneurship.
In a follow-up interview with many journalists, Hayes expanded on her impressions of the event while reinforcing her earlier points.
“I’ve been most impressed by the turnout here at She Can, this is a very large event with a lot of enthusiastic participants,” she said, noting the diversity of attendees, from founders to those still exploring business ideas.
She then addressed the challenges facing women in Egypt, connecting them to global patterns. “Some of the biggest challenges, are access to male-dominated investment capital,” she explained.
She added that “women often don’t know how to access those because they don’t have those existing relationships,” which makes it essential to create stronger networks and opportunities.
“We need to enable women to get access and make introductions,” she emphasized.
Finally, Hayes shared her personal impression of her visit. “Egypt has been on the top of my list for a long time, I was lucky that the U.S. Embassy invited me here to participate in this exciting event,” she said.
Her participation, supported by the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, reflects broader efforts to connect Egyptian entrepreneurs with global expertise.
With a background that includes leadership at IBM and investment experience through Golden Seeds, Hayes provided practical insights grounded in real-world experience.
In the end, her message tied everything together. By linking data with experience and challenges with solutions, Hayes reinforced the idea that when women support each other and gain equal access to opportunities, they can play a transformative role in shaping the future of entrepreneurship.
She Can summit brought together aspiring and established women entrepreneurs for two days of learning, networking, and inspiration.
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