DreamBuilder Helps Chilean Women Achieve Business Success

December 12, 2023 - Women entrepreneurs from throughout Chile who gained business expertise in Freeport-McMoRan’s DreamBuilder training program recently gathered in Santiago to share their successes and strengthen their networks.

The company invited 125 women to a national DreamBuilder entrepreneurship meeting, where they spent two days sharing experiences in building their businesses.

DreamBuilder is a free, online training program created for women entrepreneurs and launched through a partnership between Freeport-McMoRan’s charitable foundation and the Arizona State University Thunderbird School of Global Management. It provides women with the basic tools they need to develop and strengthen their business ideas.

Since its inception, about 150,000 people worldwide have enrolled in DreamBuilder and more than 42,000 have graduated from the program. Available in both English and Spanish, the program has registered users in 172 countries. Though they are mostly women, it also is open to men.

DreamBuilder recently hit the milestone of having provided 2 million hours of training for entrepreneurs seeking to become better at running their businesses. Most of the participants in the program are from the United States, Chile and Peru, where Freeport has active mines.

In Chile, more than 10,000 women have graduated from the program since it was made available there in 2013.

The event was attended by Bernadette Meehan, U.S. Ambassador to Chile, who praised DreamBuilder.

"Being here is a very powerful experience for me and finding out what all these women entrepreneurs are doing,” Meehan said. “They are doing impressive work throughout the country."

Mario Larenas, Director and Country Manager, Freeport-McMoRan South America-Chile, said the DreamBuilder program “embodies our firm commitment to provide entrepreneurial tools that allow women to achieve economic independence.

“We are convinced that through these small actions, we can channel a lasting and significant impact on the lives of these women, empowering them to forge a more prosperous and sustainable future,” he said.

Among those whose success was showcased was María Teresa Norris, creator of Bee Wraps, handmade reusable ecological beeswax wraps, made from 100 percent cotton fabric scraps and virgin beeswax. The innovation makes it possible to reduce the plastic used to store different types of food.

"Thanks to DreamBuilder, I was able to advance in my business, believe in myself, and get the tools I need to take it a step further,” she said.

Photos (clockwise): Blanca Zurita Flores of Arica, Chile used the skills she learned through DreamBuilder to build a business that recovers fabrics and turns them into bags, backpacks and cases that reflect the cultural identity of the Chilean regions of Arica and Parinacota; Mario Larenas (left) and Bernadette Meehan, U.S. Ambassador to Chile, during the recent national DreamBuilder meeting in Chile.