Coca-Cola was the beverage company behind the 5by20 program to empower five million women entrepreneurs.
Announced in 2010, 5by20 set a goal of helping five million women around the world become economically empowered by 2020. The program focused especially on women in Coca-Cola’s value chain, including small retailers, street vendors, producers, distributors, and artisans. Rather than treating entrepreneurship as a single training course, the initiative addressed practical barriers that can prevent women from starting or growing businesses.
Support could include business skills, financial services, mentoring, networking, market access, and help obtaining supplies or other resources. Coca-Cola worked with governments, nonprofit organizations, and community partners to deliver these forms of assistance in different countries.
The name is a shorthand for “five by twenty”: five million women by 2020. It should not be confused with Coca-Cola’s broader charitable foundation work or with general women’s entrepreneurship campaigns. The program is specifically tied to The Coca-Cola Company’s global business ecosystem and its women’s economic-empowerment goal.