In May of this year, Miller Center launched it’s first 100% women-led cohort to help advance women leaders and women’s economic growth. Of the 227 applicants, 17 women entrepreneurs were selected to participate in our 6-month GSBI® Online program. Today I am also very excited to announce that another 15 were selected to participate in our 4-month GSBI JumpStart program, which officially launched on June 30.
Originally piloted in 2017, the JumpStart program was initiated as a way to support early-stage but high potential social entrepreneurs, in particular, women-led and locally-led organizations. The format of JumpStart differs from other GSBI accelerator programs in that it is delivered in a shorter period of time and with a less structured format. The goal is to help give these enterprises a “jumpstart” to be prepared to apply for future stage-specific accelerators like GSBI online as well as to develop strategies to grow their enterprises in a financially sustainable manner.
Since JumpStart is geared toward supporting early-stage enterprises, the organizations in this cohort on average have been in operation 1-4 years and are a mix of for-profit, non-profit, and hybrid businesses. They are creating impact across 7 countries — Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, India, and the US, and working across 7 impact sectors — Education, Energy, Agriculture, Health, Artisanal, Environment, and Housing/Community Development.
Discover the 15 social enterprises selected for our 2020 GSBI JumpStart Women-Led Cohort:
Agriculture
Health
Education
Energy
Artisanal
Environment
Housing/Community Development
