Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE Kenya 2024) – Cohort 6. Scale Your Business Program
The U.S. Embassy Nairobi in partnership with Ushindi Empowerment Group, invites women entrepreneurs from Nairobi with at least 3 years’ experience seeking to scale their businesses or explore international trade to apply for the program. The objective is to provide business management training to Nairobi-based female entrepreneurs ready to scale their businesses. This cohort is supported by the UPS Foundation.
The Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) established the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) in 2019. AWE provides women entrepreneurs with the skills, resources, and networks needed to start and scale successful businesses. So far, AWE is in over 100+ countries, having reached over 25,000 women entrepreneurs’ globally.
Ushindi Empowerment Group is a community-based organization dedicated to transforming lives by empowering communities and marginalized groups. We do this by partnering with and supporting grassroots leaders, women, and youth-led organizations in order to build their capacity to meet some of their communities’ most complex challenges.
Who can participate?
- Kenyan women entrepreneurs, aged 25 to 45, who reside in Nairobi.
- Seeking to grow their business and have at least 2–3 years of entrepreneurial experience.
- Commitment to scale their business or explore international trade.
- Commit to actively participate in all program components and impact assessments.
- Have basic computer skills and access to the internet.
- Own and/or lead a business with demonstrated potential for growth.
- 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 both written and spoken English.
Women who hold elected or appointed government positions are not eligible for this program. (AWE Alumni are eligible to apply.)
Program Benefits
The AWE Program will enable you to: –
- Gain access to the online business training platform –Dream builder
- Specialized business management training and a growth plan for your business training
- A dedicated one-on-one mentor to support you in your business growth planning process
- Gain exposure to essential business resources and tools to grow and scale 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 and industry leaders
- The chance to win seed funding to launch or consolidate your business.
- Opportunity to be part of the U.S. Exchange AWE Alumni network and access to opportunities
Activities
The AWE training will take place over a period of 3 months of guided formal training through the Dream Builder 100 million learners’ platform and 3 months of mentorship, 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 (specifically, the winners of the pitching competition) as well as access to key strategic partners.
Participants will increase their business knowledge and understanding of what it takes to scale their businesses. 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 the opportunities. We shall have a team of qualified program staff, facilitators and mentors to support the learning agenda all through the program.
Apply at: https: //forms.gle/GXtCeejxRv8Tg1ec9 [forms.gle]
For more information, kindly refer to: https://ushindiempowerment.org/awe/#apply
