Training 24 #NotYourAverageGhanaians through GhanaThink's Ghana Youth Social Entrepreneurship Program (GYSEP)
The 2018 Ghana Youth Social Entrepreneurship Program (GYSEP) finale is a celebration of social entreprise training
In 2017, the GhanaThink Foundation organized the Ghana Youth Social Entrepreneurship Competition (GYSEC) in partnership with Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) - #GYSEC2017. 20 budding social entrepreneurs were chosen out of 154 applications to learn, be trained, and compete. The trainees underwent a 2 month training period where they took an online course on Social Entrepreneurship and Design Thinking run by DOT. In 2018, GYSEC became the 4th program for GhanaThink after Barcamp Ghana, Junior Camp Ghana, Ghana Volunteer Program. It is referred to as the Ghana Youth Social Entrepreneurship Program (GYSEP). The team behind this program is made up of Ato Ulzen-Appiah, Kofi Yeboah, Richmond Anane, Marian Adeaba, Maccharty Mac-Gbathy and Fawziyya Issah, who are all GhanaThink members. The crowning moment for GYSEP would be the finale on August 12, 2018 at Impact Hub Accra.
For the 2018 program, 20 young (budding) social entrepreneurs (out of 220+ applications) have been chosen from all over #Ghana, alongside 4 GhanaThink members. They have received training to run better social entreprises through physical workshops and remote (online) training via courses. The program is completely free for these 24 awesome young Ghanaians, with accommodation, and transport covered, in addition to stipends. The Director of the GhanaThink Foundation Ato Ulzen-Appiah stated: “GhanaThink made the transition from being an NGO to a social entreprise in 2014. We have become more sustainable and we are looking forward to helping drive more sustainable social impact through these new social entreprises which are tackling various issues and sustainable development goals (SDGs).”
These trainings happened at Impact Hub Accra (June 30-July 1) in Accra and Hopin Academy (July 21-22) in Tamale. They were taken through Introduction to Social Entreprises, Gender related courses, building towards a Compelling Vision for Change, Human Centered Design, etc. The online course on Impact (focuses on social entrepreneurship, design thinking, impact business canvas, etc) is administered by DOT. Rachel Hormeku and Esperanza Yakubu also represented Digital Opportunity Trust, talking about the social innovation program. There are some photos of past trainings and workshops on the GhanaThink Facebook Page.
After last year, the 6 winners were Ivy Barley (Developers in Vogue), Princess Allotey - ArithOut (Kids And Math), Enam Agbozo - Y-TIDE(now Radix Nest), Justica Anima (Green Arts Culture), Lamisi Atinga (Savana Oils), and Mawuli Amenyedor - Ho Node Hub. They have been able to establish great social entreprises and are continuing to grow and scale. The Ghanathink Foundation has also continued to support them in various ways; mentorship, introductions to opportunities, etc. This year, the 2017 class would be helping out the 2018 class with tips, advice, etc. Isaac Sesi (Nsesa Foundation), Nana Yaa Ayim (Proteos Technologies), Saraswati Efua Arthur (Reading Factory) have all been to the workshops to share their experiences with the program, how it helped them and how the current class should take advantage of the opportunities.
On August 12, 2018 these social entrepreneurs would be pitching their ideas in a competition and also show how far they have come through the training. Join us for this final ceremony to hear about 20 great social entreprises, network, and learn. It is happening from 5-9pm on Sunday, August 12 at Impact Hub Accra (Osu-Nyaniba).
You can register to attend via this link on EgoTickets - https://egotickets.com/events/ghana-youth-social-enterpreneurship-program-2018-finale
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