MONROVIA – Youth Coalition for Education in Liberia (YOCEL), on the 22nd of June, launched the Impact fellowship, a 12 months social entrepreneurship fellowship targeting 10 entrepreneurs at the Colony Hotel in Congo town.
By Francis G. Boayue – francis.boayueafrontpageafricaonline.com
The Impact fellowship is a cohort-styled social enterprise accelerator program that aims to create modern social businesses driven by a balance between profits and impact. The program is designed to identify early-stage entrepreneurs who have identified a problem and have developed a solution/ an idea to resolve that problem.
The initiative is part of YOCEL five-year strategy to reduce poverty through increasing economic opportunities for women and youth entrepreneurs in Liberia, funded by the Fund for Global Human Rights.
The launch drew organizations like USAID, Mercy Corps, EDC, iCampus, amidst others.
The Executive Director of Leadership and Education for Africa Project (LEAP), David Saa Fatorma, who served as the Keynote speaker of the launching ceremony, highlighted the importance of collaboration amongst various sectors to contribute to Liberia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He emphasized that the agricultural sector is a central force for Liberia’s development, and innovations such as YOCEL’s Impact Fellowship have the potential to accelerate the growth of Agribusinesses that will feed the nation and create jobs for the Liberian youths. He further commended the work of YOCEL and encouraged them to strive for more.
Others in attendance included youth entrepreneurs and agribusiness farmers from counties in which YOCEL is currently operating. The launch also featured spotlighting sessions of YOCEL’s work in Sappimah community, Gbarpolu, with representatives coming to share their experiences so far since YOCEL started impacting the community.
The Town Chief of Sappimah Community, Marvin Kollie, who was present at the event, elaborated on how YOCEL’s support to the community has improved the lives of the women and children by supporting the renovation of the community school, paying the salaries of teachers, providing school feeding for the children and even paying their School Fees.
He further explained that YOCEL is now supporting more than 500 women and youth cassava farmers to industrialize by building a Cassava Refining Factory and training them to form self-help VSLA groups. He used the opportunity to thank YOCEL and their partners or donors for their continued support to the people of Sappimah Community.
“Access to finance and business skills is one major challenge we are trying to solve. As a social enterprise accelerator, we are committed to support the business community particularly SME to succeed and create more jobs”. Said, Beyan Flomo Pewee, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of YOCEL.
Call for Applications are now open and NGOs, Social enterprises, community initiatives and business startups within the 0-3 years of operations are encouraged to apply. You can apply using the link https://bit.ly/IFPBooklet2023. Check out YOCEL’s pages across all social media platforms for further information.
Created in 2013, YOCEL is a youth empowerment and social enterprise accelerator – ensuring that all youth, including young women, have access to education and skills to end unemployment through innovation. YOCEL advocates for and promotes economic growth through capacity building, social dialogues, and collaborative partnerships on education, entrepreneurship, job creation, and workforce empowerment in Liberia and across Africa.