ADOPEM (The Dominican Association for the Development of Women, Inc.) is an association based in the Dominican Republic that is committed to empowering women and helping them to become economic actors.  Founded on July 14, 1982, the Association was born out of a private, local initiative spearheaded by Mercedes P. de Canalda.  ADOPEM is the Dominican affiliate of the Women´s World Banking network, a non-for-profit network of microfinance institutions based in New York.

ADOPEM´s primary objective is to achieve the integration of women and their households into the formal market and to provide them with access to financial services.  To this end, Training Institute ADOPEM offers vocational and financial training programs tailored to the very poor, particularly women.  The goal of Training Institute ADOPEM is to foster the self-empowerment of Dominican entrepreneurs and to supply them with the means to build sustainable businesses.