#8M: Costa Women "empowering by coming together"

With the vision of connecting women moving to Spain, both on a personal and a business level, Ali Meehan founded Costa Women in 2010.

Having lived in and worked all over the world before settling on the Costa del Sol, Ali understood the challenges of being in a new place, and the importance of belonging to a community. Costa Women now exists all over Spain, and continues to grow, gaining around 40 new members a week. With members from 137 different nationalities, women from different backgrounds come together and share their cultures and interests.

The organisations hosts around 25 events a week, around five of which are held online. These are both social and business focused, ranging from book clubs to padel games, coffee mornings to business talks, and all work to create a supportive and empowering environment for women.

For Ali, International Women's Day is an opportunity to celebrate women's uniqueness and differences, and "the things that we can all bring when we come together as a community." The women in the organisation connect not only on a personal level, but also enrich one another's businesses as they learn from each other.

On 8 March, Costa Women will host an international event in collaboration with Believe Inspire Grow and with women from all over Spain. The event, 'Celebrating International Women's Day ONLINE' can be found on the Costa Women Facebook page.

An important date on the Costa Women calendar is 12 May, when they will host their annual conference at Andalucía Lab in Marbella, where women come together to talk about their different businesses and products.

"The idea is that women learn something from these conferences that they didn't know before, which then enables them to grow as well," explained Ali. Costa Women are also soon launching a new radio show for expats, encouraging women to explore new opportunities.

"One of the biggest challenges women face is lack of confidence," said Ali. "Moving abroad takes courage, as does continuing to work and starting a business in new place. Our community celebrates these achievements, empowering women by coming together and building confidence."