We’re recruiting skilled Canadians for unique e-fellowships so you can volunteer virtually to share your skills, gain experience and amplify your career.
Join us to advance women’s equality globally.
HerStart: A Model for a Feminist Future
For over 30 years, gender equality has been a priority at YCI. We design inclusive programs that help overcome gender barriers and support economic empowerment and community leadership for young women.
HerStart is YCI’s initiative to advance equality through creating opportunities for women to build the skills, confidence and funding they need to realize their dreams and achieve their goals. We collaborate with youth, partner organizations and communities to identify their needs and develop pathways for women to create businesses, jobs and a lasting economic ripple effect.
HerStart’s Innovate the Future Program
10,000+
YOUTH
300+
CANADIAN FELLOWS
$1,000,000+
CATALYST FUND
12+
PARTNERS
7
YEARS
3
COUNTRIES
Our goal is bold: Support 10,000 young women to become social entrepreneurs over 7 years.
HerStart’s Innovate the Future program propels sustainable economic development and social impact for women and their communities in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda.
Driven by the power of global partners and passionate Canadian fellowship volunteers, the program puts the power of knowledge sharing into action so women can turn their business dreams into reality. Here’s how HerStart’s program builds a more equitable and sustainable future that works for everyone:
- Training young women in foundational entrepreneurship skills, financial management, personal leadership and social impact.
- Incubating social enterprises to support growth and resilience including business development services, coaching and leadership training for entrepreneurs.
- Investing through the HerStart Catalyst Fund to provide seed funding and business mentorship and help launch or scale businesses with measurable positive community impact.
- Developing ecosystems and a network of resources to support social entrepreneurs beyond the life of the program.
Program elements:
How we empower women
Training young women
Over the course of the program, young people in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda participate in 3 levels of responsive social enterprise training and incubation.
Level 1: Sparking Social Innovation
Designed for both aspiring and established entrepreneurs, this training teaches the building blocks of social entrepreneurship, including how to create and measure social and environmental impact.
Level 2: Seed your Social Venture
The second training phase provides access to valuable resources for designing gender-inclusive and eco-conscious products and services, including tools to support social innovation, idea testing, market assessment and impact measurement.
Level 3: Grow your Social Venture
The third training stage is all about weaving a strong support ecosystem. By providing access to funding, business and skills coaching, investment relationships, and customers and partners, the training will help ensure lasting sustainability of women’s ventures.
Funding young women
Youth in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda that participate in HerStart’s social entrepreneurship training are eligible for seed funding and business mentorship through the HerStart Catalyst Fund. The Fund helps kickstart businesses as they scale up and boosts their ability to drive a more equal, climate-resilient and inclusive economy.
HerStart International Fellowships for Canadians coming soon!
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YCI’s HerStart Innovate the Future and Fellowship programs are funded through Global Affairs Canada’s Volunteer Cooperation Program, providing skilled Canadians opportunities to volunteer abroad with global partners and advance Canada’s Feminist International Assistance Policy.
