NOFO: Academy of Women Entrepreneurs Program (Mauritius)

Objectives

• The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) established the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) an exchange program in 2019 to empower women with the professional skills, networks, and access they need to launch or scale successful businesses.
• Implemented in nearly 100 countries since 2019, AWE has empowered an estimated 25,000 women entrepreneurs around the world with the professional business skills they need to reach their full economic potential. The AWE program was implemented in 2021 in Mauritius. As a U.S. government exchange program, AWE connects women with U.S.-style learning and expertise to advance business acumen and build stronger ties among women entrepreneurs in different markets.
• The AWE program partners with Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management (ASU) and the Freeport-McMoRan Foundation, the creators of DreamBuilder, a no-cost online learning platform that teaches AWE participants the fundamentals of business from a U.S. perspective. In 2023, the Department and ASU established a new five-year, public[1]private partnership to also offer AWE participants advanced courses through the Francis and Dionne Najafi 100 Million Learners Global Initiative.
• In addition, by networking with local business leaders and U.S. Exchange Alumni, the AWE program includes localized content specific to entrepreneurs’ needs.  ECA’s Office of Academic Programs manages the AWE program and supports U.S. Missions worldwide to leverage the power of local U.S.-government Exchange Alumni networks to serve as facilitators, guest speakers, and mentors for the AWE program.
• The project will include the following objectives:
  • Develop a program aimed at increasing entrepreneurial capacity of AWE beneficiaries that will integrate the DreamBuilder online course or the Najafi 100 Million Learners Global Initiative as one of its key components. The program will encompass facilitated viewing sessions that will provide the participants an opportunity to discuss the topics and to network. The modules may be augmented to localize the context, and to accommodate the topics of guest speaker talks.
  • Identify a facilitator(s) to lead discussions, help localize the principles taught and engage in  speed mentoring, influencer talks, pitch competitions or trade fairs for women to apply business skills in real-time.
  • Create an educational cohort and recruit 25-35 women aged 25 or older to engage in U.S. – style online education with guided facilitation. The awardee will promote the call for participants through traditional and/or social media platforms and organizational networks that would maximize the number of women reached. In consultation with the awarding agency, the awardee will determine additional selection criteria beyond the basic eligibility parameters and devise an application form. The awardee will review and pre-select program participants and in close collaboration with the U.S. Embassy will organize and conduct final interviews to select the participants.
  • Foster networks that support participants’ access to peer-to-peer mentorship, business partners, and scaling opportunities with business in the region.
• The project has the following goal:
  • Provide the selected women entrepreneurs with the skills, resources, and networks needed to start and scale successful businesses.

Funding Information

• Length of performance period: 1 year
• Number of awards anticipated: 1 award
• Award Floor: $17,000
• Award Ceiling: $25,000.

Target Audiences

• The target audience for this project are Mauritian, Rodriguan and Seychellois women, aged 25 and older who have recently started a business and have about a year experience selling their product or service. Participants should have basic computer skills and have minimal previous   business training.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicants
  • The following organizations are eligible to apply:
    • Registered not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non governmental organizations with programming experience
    • Non-profit or governmental educational institutions.
• Cost Sharing or Matching
  • Cost sharing is encouraged but not required.
• Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.