A jury member perspective by Anila Sallata.
The Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) is a new program supporting women entrepreneurs around the world. The Academy, in support of the White House-led Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, equip women with the practical skills needed to create sustainable businesses and enterprises. Through an inclusive learning community, women from Albania were given the opportunity to explore the fundamentals of business.
14 young women entrepreneurs exploring the fundamentals of business.
From a jury member perspective…
It was a sunny October afternoon, and I was seated on the front row in the amazing lounge of Destil Creative Hub in the heart of Tirana city. I was invited to be a jury member, voting and evaluating the ideas of 14 young women that would be presenting that afternoon and I felt somehow different, because I find myself better between mentors and coaches, but I also think that jury members can lead to great advice and recommendations beside points and evaluation.
These young women full of ideas and a great desire to bring them to life, remembered myself when at 17 years old I was burning music to CDs and trying to sell them to classmates or relatives and now all grown up I’m still in the middle of finding ways how to generate ideas, enabling and empowering others in my daily job to come up with solutions and trying to find ways to make them real…
Anyway, I was there, and it took almost 2 hours of 14 presentations, a lot of questions from the jury members in a way to understand better the ideation stage, the capacity of the teams and the problem as well as the solution offered. I got deep in their business models and listened ideas like the amazing handmade carpets designed from a 35-year-old woman and manufactured from another 80 years old one. I discovered the right app for me that will remind me to book and arrange appointments with the hairdresser. I enjoyed the presentation of a very young enthusiastic and talented girl that is a pharmaceutical event organizer, and her idea was to further escalate it. I just fell in love with the beeswax wrap paper made out from bee’s wax, pine resin and different colorful fabrics from mother’s atelier. I got the chance to try a special coffee from Vietnam and listen to the amazing idea and business model of an EFL teacher and how she wants to have a coffee shop in Tirana.
I was amazed not only from the presentation and their sustainability, love for environment, beauty, and health, but from the whole program itself. During these 3-4 months all these women have undergone a full program and they’ve been coached how to identify and determine the problem and the solution they’re offering, implement a business model and at the end how to pitch it.
They have also performed onsite visits in a way to gain as many insights as possible and all AWE participants had access to Dream Builder, an online course on women entrepreneurship. Participants have been continuously engaged in facilitated lessons on business management and network with like-minded entrepreneurs and mentors. All these have a great impact, I could clearly understand while they’re presenting, they were all good taught and secure of themselves.
I’ve always been a firmed believer that women can achieve a lot, so never underestimate the power they have, especially when educated and empowered with special proper knowledge as they got the chance in AWE. There were three winners, but for me there was no loser at all that afternoon.
… right now I’m just looking forward to the new designs from Griz living and the tote bags from Nikol, while drinking a special Vietnamese coffee in Destil Creative Hub, writing the next article, and cheering women’s success whenever I can.
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