Empowered women receive Mini-MBA Certificates by MANAGE as part of the flagship programme organized by Access Livelihoods, supported by GIZ.
India, 18th September 2022 – Access Livelihoods (AL), an esteemed group of social entrepreneurs have successfully led close to 100 neo-literate rural women to graduation. AL had previously launched the Mission of the Women Entrepreneurship Programme (WEP), which aims at empowering women to gain control over their livelihoods and gain dignity, respect, and recognition, as active contributors to the economy. The stately convocation witnessed the presence of eminent leaders from public services, entrepreneurship, and social sector space, including, Mr. R Subrahmanyam, IAS, Former Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Higher Education and Ministry of Social Justice, and the Guest of Honor Ms. Rubina Mazhar, Founder and CEO, SAFA
The event also witnessed the grand presence of Mr. Gerrit Qualitz, Project Director, GIZ, Dr. Saravanan Raj, Director, National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Hyderabad, and Mr. Mohanaiah Paladi, Former CGM, NABARD. During the ceremony, MANAGE, having done a comprehensive evaluation of the women, awarded Mini MBA certificates to 93 women. The ceremony was held at the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, Telangana.
WEP is one of its kind in India as it is designed by taking rural women’s educational backgrounds into consideration. It is interesting to note that 79% of women in the third cohort present in the convocation ceremony of the Women Entrepreneurship Programme are school dropouts but are now proud graduates of the Women Entrepreneurship Programme and recipients of Mini MBA certified by MANAGE. The Women Entrepreneurship Programme has been designed with an immense belief in the capabilities and inherent skills of rural women.
In the first two phases of the program, 200 participants from 7 locations across Telangana, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Uttar Pradesh, were selected, to be imparted managerial and leadership skills. In the current cohort, with the support of a German development agency -The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), 143 women across four locations have participated in the program.
During the event, the participants talked about how their journey has helped them grow as leaders and entrepreneurs. Ms. Suhasini, one of the participants said, “Earlier I would rarely go out of the house for any work, now I am very active in my community, and I am continuously learning and taking up roles as a leader and entrepreneur due to the confidence I have gained during these 9 months of the Women Entrepreneurship Programme.”
The guest of honor, Rubina Mazhar said “It is amazing to see your journey so far, but now is when the real entrepreneur journey starts, and you must always support your sisters here with you and help each other grow as entrepreneurs” The CEO of Access Livelihoods Learning foundation, Ms. Sruthi Kunnel also added, “AL aims to develop comprehensive, affordable, and accessible entrepreneurship development education and employability training for 10,000 women and youth over the next decade.”
