Miami Herbert and PUCMM Launch WISE Program in Dominican Republic

Entrepreneurial women across the Dominican Republic now have access to education and resources for qualifying startup ideas through the Women in STEM Entrepreneurship program.
Miami Herbert and PUCMM Launch WISE Program in Dominican Republic

The University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School has partnered with the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM) in the Dominican Republic to bring the Women in STEM Entrepreneurship (WISE) program to the Caribbean nation. Established in 2018 by faculty at IAE Business School of Austral University in Argentina, WISE delivers virtual and in-person courses that include mentorship opportunities, competitions, and immersion programs to women with innovative ideas in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

On July 20, PUCMM leadership and students, government officials, U.S. Embassy representatives, leaders of business associations, and Miami Herbert alumni gathered for the official launch at PUCMM in Santo Domingo. Speaking at the conference, Miami Herbert International Relations Manager Cecilia Sanchez highlighted the significance of WISE’s women-focused career development training.

“The creators developed a program that offers entrepreneurial women the tools with which to transform their ideas into reality and contribute to the social and economic development of our region. WISE also reaffirms the empowerment of women through education, which is fundamental for our collective progress,” she stated.

WISE at PUCMM in collaboration with Miami Herbert represents the Latin American initiative’s entrance into the Caribbean. Previous expansion has included Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and Chile through participating academic institutions under the Hemispheric University Consortium, which facilitates joint efforts among universities across the Caribbean, Latin America, the United States, and Canada since its founding in 2018.

“These alliances allow us to take advantage of the infrastructure and resources already in place to achieve greater impact while participants can count on a wider and better-connected network,” Sanchez said.

Leveraging program content, connections, and structures already available, the training workshops will be offered jointly by PUCMM and Miami Herbert faculty members (in Spanish) and will be followed by specialized mentorship for the innovation project that each student proposes. The 50-hour course will consist of seven modules covering entrepreneurship, value generation, trends and processes in STEM innovation, startup funding opportunities, sales and marketing, startup launch tools, and leadership development.

“Our purpose is to provide content that enables female participants to create, develop, and manage their entrepreneurial initiatives in a way that generates value for society and extends innovation,” explained Julissa Pichardo, dean of the School of Economic and Administrative Sciences at PUCMM.

All accepted students will receive full scholarships sponsored by the Interamerican Development Bank of Dominican Republic. Additionally, as the course will be offered virtually, women across the country may apply.