In support of W-GDP, the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) was created in 2019 and launched in 26 countries, with the goal of enhancing female empowerment and gender equality in the developing world. One of Concordia’s Global Patron Members, U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF), has partnered with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to expand the AWE Program. This conversation, co-hosted by USADF, engaged with three graduates of the AWE Program, to highlight female entrepreneurs in Africa and the importance of supporting an ecosystem that enables them to thrive.
SUMMARY
- Manuel Pereira began the conversation introducing the AWE program. Created in 2019 to augment the existing slate of projects focused on women’s economic empowerment, the program provides women entrepreneurs with the necessary tools, networks, and mentorship opportunities to scale successful businesses. Ultimately, it aims to provide women with the opportunity to push societal boundaries and begin filling in the gap of the “missing middle”. AWE is centered around an online training program, DreamBuilder, developed through the U.S. State Department’s partnership with Arizona State University Thunderbird School of Global Management and Freeport McMoran. Starting out in just 10 countries, AWE has now expanded into 18 countries.
- With the month of March spotlighting many prominent women in their field of expertise for Women’s History Month, Melvenia Gueye asked each panelist to highlight the single greatest support in starting their business.
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- Johanna Mbengue always believed that she had a purpose in the world, and through the DreamBuilder’s courses, she was able to find her true mission of helping others. Throughout the program, Mbengue came to realize how unaware most women are of the laws that are currently in place to protect their businesses. With the majority of women uninformed, she combined her passion for educating around the law and her mission to help others, which led her to create JudiMap.
- Cecilia Sewera began her entrepreneurial path with two failed businesses. She believed that these first two attempts did not succeed because she was not passionate about the products she was selling. She realized her true passion for manufacturing once she began working at her first startup company. As she watched it grow from the ground up, she received the experience she needed to start her own small business.
- The DreamBuilder program highlights why some women fail and why others succeed in the business world. Even after the program, Pamela Mutale Kapekele continued to research women entrepreneurs in the energy field. By learning about how other women got to where they were, Kapekele was able to steer her own path to victory.
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- For each of the panelists, the AWE program provided them with the tools and resources they needed to begin their path as successful female entrepreneurs. However, their stories can also provide opportunities for improvement with this program. For example, DreamBuilder is a well structured program for launching your own small business, but for someone who is already in business it can raise useful theoretical approaches, highlighted Sewera. She identified that a gap in the program lies in the practical side, particularly in terms of presenting real-life female entrepreneurs to students.
- Most growth-oriented female entrepreneurs fall into this “missing middle” category. The AWE program, created as an attempt to close this gap of differing resources and opportunity, has educated these three female panelists, and many others, on how to start a small business, as well as given them the funds to grow their businesses from the ground up.
VIDEO
SPEAKERS
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