The Sauder School of Business has been developing programs in Nairobi, Kenya since 2006. The main program, Social Entrepreneurship 101 (SE101), is a three-week course where students from UBC and Strathmore University (Nairobi) teach young people how to write business plans. Participants are mentored, sources of funding for the projects are identified, and businesses have been launched as a result of the program. Learn about the 2011 project, and read more about the overall initiative. The core of the program is the Social Entrepreneurship 101
Social Entrepreneurship 101:
Africa is one part of the African Initiative of the Sauder School of Business. SE101 started delivering a business plan training program to youth living in Africa in the summer of 2006. Most of our efforts have focussed on Kibera and other areas of Nairobi, Kenya, but we have also delivered a modified version of SE101 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Our workshops educate and enable impoverished youth to start their own businesses.The program is based on one designed by Sauder faculty and delivered to residents in the downtown eastside of Vancouver, the poorest postal code in Canada.
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Through extensive research and support from the Sauder community and our African partners, the UBC students involved in SE 101, together with students from Strathmore University in Nairobi, have designed the course to be practical, applicable and sustainable in the local context.
Project Components:
- Three weeks of workshops to Kenyan youth on the essentials of a business plan.
- One-on-one consultation sessions with program participants, to share ideas and information, complete the business plans and organize step-by-step development strategies.
- Guest speakers from the Kenyan business community provide a local prospective, impart inspiration and share essential knowledge and experience.
- Post-program support to polish the business plan, access funding, and launch businesses.