Where an entrepreneur is situated, geographically, culturally, and institutionally, shapes whether they can participate in entrepreneurship and on what terms. Entrepreneurship is not a context-free activity: it unfolds in specific places, histories, and communities (Welter, 2011; Welter & Baker, 2021). A growing body of work on entrepreneurial ecosystems further confirms that the networks, resources, and institutions enabling entrepreneurship are anchored in specific territories and cannot be understood apart from their local and social contexts (Richard, 2026; Spigel, 2017; Wurth et al., 2022). While existing research has examined women’s entrepreneurship in relation to necessity, poverty, and marginalization, the place-based dynamics of these experiences, and how they differ across intersecting social locations, remain less fully theorized (García-Lomas & Gabaldón, 2023).
The contributions of women entrepreneurs to economic and social development are well-documented, and the evidence shows that their reach and impact continue to grow. Across the 53 economies participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) in 2025, several middle-income economies have now reached gender parity in early-stage entrepreneurial activity, while migrant and foreign-born entrepreneurs are adding new sources of innovation and international connectedness (GEM, 2026). At the same time, gender, place of birth, and other intersecting dimensions of identity continue to shape access to capital, networks, markets, and institutional support in ways that are cumulative and context-dependent (Collins, 2019; Collins & Bilge, 2020; Crenshaw, 1991; GEM, 2026; Romero & Valdez, 2016; Sánchez-Limón et al., 2025; Vershinina et al., 2025). Notably, the 2025/2026 GEM Global Report finds that 51% of early-stage entrepreneurs across 48 economies are motivated by the desire to make a difference in the world, and 84% always consider social and environmental impacts in their business decisions, patterns that resonate strongly with the values characteristic of women’s entrepreneurship globally (GEM, 2026).
A growing body of scholarship shows that entrepreneurial ecosystems are not gender-neutral: the structural dimensions of these systems, finance, policy, networks, and culture, often reproduce rather than reduce existing inequalities (Brush et al., 2019; Kim et al., 2026). Immigrant and diaspora women face distinct institutional barriers even as they bridge communities and markets (Poggesi & Mari, 2025). Indigenous women draw on land-based knowledge and relational forms of value creation that mainstream frameworks frequently overlook (Croce, 2020), and women in rural and remote communities navigate geographic isolation alongside strong local assets and community ties that can serve as powerful entrepreneurial resources (Ahl & Marlow, 2021; Roundy, 2019). Place, in short, is both a site of constraint and a source of possibility. By bringing together scholars, practitioners, and policymakers, the 2027 Diana conference aims to generate evidence and dialogue that illuminates how women entrepreneurs are transforming futures across the diverse places and communities in which they live and work.
