The U.S. Embassy Nairobi in partnership with Ushindi Empowerment invites Women Entrepreneurs aged between 25- 45 years living within Nairobi, Machakos, Malindi and Kisumu counties to apply for the Academy for The Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) 2023 Program. This is a free entrepreneurship program designed to help you grow your business!
Eligibility
- Open to Kenyan Women entrepreneurs 25 years to 45 years and fluent in English.
- Resident in Nairobi, Malindi, Machakos and Kisumu.
- Have recently started a business and have at least a year of experience selling their product or service.
- Have basic computer skills.
- Must be able to commit on average five hours per week to AWE both physically and virtually as required by the program.
- Have a good understanding of written and spoken English
- Have access to the internet.
Benefits
- The AWE program will enable you to: Gain access to specialized entrepreneurial training and mentorship.
- Gain exposure to essential business resources and tools to grow your business.
- Network and learn from successful and established business leaders and mentors.
- Access to a community of female entrepreneurs with opportunities for peer-to-peer inspiration and learning
- The opportunity to pitch your business to a prominent jury of seasoned entrepreneurs/industry leaders
- The chance to win seed funding to launch or consolidate your business.
Activities
The AWE training will take place over a period of 3 months of guided formal training through the Dream Builder platform and 3 months of mentorship and business linkages culminating in a graduation, business planning competition, and exhibition to allow the participants to celebrate their hard work. The participants will also gain access to seed capital (specific to winners of the business plan competition) as well as access to key strategic partners.
Participants will increase their knowledge and understanding of business, marketing, finance, and operations.
They will also have safe spaces to dialogue on issues affecting them and their businesses and linkages to support mechanisms.
Further, the primary beneficiaries will be trained on pitching their businesses to access opportunities. We shall have a team of qualified Program staff facilitators and mentors to support the learning agenda throughout the program.
Selection Process
All applications will be assessed against eligibility criteria. All applicants will be informed about the results of the selection process.
Deadline: August 31st, 2023
Click HERE To Apply
