Focus Areas
#1 Economic Empowerment
We seek to provide women and youth with the knowledge, skills, and networks to grow sustainable businesses and establish a competitive entrepreneurial ecosystem in the regions where we work. So far, we have implemented three economic empowerment-specific projects, mainly the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs, which is a U.S. Embassy-funded project, and a mentorship program for ecopreneurs in Kenya.
Current & Past Projects
Academy for Women Entreprenuers (AWE)
The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) is an award-winning training and coaching platform specifically designed for women microbusiness owners. It gives enterprising women the knowledge, networks, and access they need to launch and scale successful businesses. By promoting women’s economic opportunities and ensuring that women have the capabilities and resources needed to participate in the economy, the AWE program directly supports the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality.
AWE uses a hybrid model that combines the online platform Dream Builder (developed through a partnership between Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management and global copper mining company Freeport-McMoRan) with in-class mentoring and facilitation. Through AWE, participants learn core business skills and then get together as a class to discuss the material with experienced implementers, local mentors, and U.S. Exchange alumni. Partnerships with local NGOs, universities, and chambers of commerce offer women the opportunity to amplify their newly learned business skills and network with other businesspeople through speed mentoring, pitch competitions, and entrepreneurship fairs.
A 2021 evaluation of the program showed that 74 percent of women who complete the AWE program increase their business earnings, and 29 percent hire more staff. By giving women the tools and confidence they need, the AWE program is generating income and creating jobs in women-led businesses, driving local prosperity in more than 80 countries worldwide.
In Kenya, the AWE program is equipping women with the practical skills needed to create sustainable businesses. It seeks to promote economic prosperity by creating opportunities for women with brilliant ideas to become successful entrepreneurs. The main sponsors of AWE Kenya are the State Department, ECA at State, and US Embassy Kenya, which will be implemented by Ushindi Empowerment in 2022. The project is currently ongoing, and thus far Kenya has trained over 600 women by 2024, with the Ushindi Empowerment Group implementing three of these cohorts in 2022. The counties covered include Nairobi, Machakos, Malindi, Kisumu, Nakuru, Lamu, and Mombasa. Dedicated to transforming lives by empowering communities and vulnerable groups
GBV Survivors entrepreneurship training-Kajiado
We partnered with Engage Jamii Initiatives, a grassroots organization in Kajiado to offer entrepreneurship training to survivors of gender based violence in Nairobi and Kajiado County.
Participants were trained on how to save and how to start a business.
Film Fupi Life Skills and Entrepreneurship Training
We partnered with Film Fupi, an initiative of the US Embassy, and the Youth Film Platform, where we offered three days of training on entrepreneurship and life skills to young film makers in Nairobi County.