MY EXPERIENCE ON THE SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WORKSHOP FOR YOUTH ORGANIZED BY TEENZ GLOBAL FOUNDATION

 Youth Workshop On Social Entrepreneurship For Selected Nigerian Youths

By Makinde Tolulope

In order to raise young social entrepreneurs who have passion to impact and aspire to become successful leaders in their respective endeavours, Teenz Global Foundation (TGF) in conjunction with Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association of Nigeria (MWFAAN) organized a practical workshop on 20^th April, 2016 at the American Corner, C/O National Women Development Centre, Central Business District (CBD), Abuja.

As expected, the workshop was quite impactful as those, who participated were young entrepreneurs resident in Abuja, having burning desire to implement their ideas and grow their social enterprise, but lack the network and finance to do so. The workshop focused on solving, starting and sustaining a social enterprise.

The workshop was facilitated by Founder of TGF, Mrs. Ijeoma Sorochi Okorie. She taught on the importance of social enterprise in developing our nation and solving the emerging problems of the society. The participants learnt from her that social entrepreneurship is about solving a problem and not just starting a company. According to her, it is not all about making money but making a difference. The participants were also trained on Elevator Pitch as they all  pitch their ideas. Mrs. Okorie corrected their mistakes and advised them on how to pitch effectively in a limited time, she also enlightened them that an Elevator Pitch should arouse Attention � Interest � Desire � Action in their target Investors.

The workshop was held in a conducive environment and the participants were free to network and share their ideas and experiences with one another. They were divided into groups for them to brainstorm on the challenges faced by social entrepreneurs, the root cause and the possible solutions. After which a representative was chosen among them to give a presentation about their research and conclusion for the group.

And Mrs. Okorie rounded up the activity by teaching everyone the skills of a good social entrepreneur and how to raise fund as an entrepreneur. She said that the secret of raising money is meeting the right people and communicating the idea well, and also identifying how the idea or project will benefit the investor or sponsor. She taught everyone that a successful social entrepreneur must have energy and be prepared to start the business. He/she must have passion and strength to do the business, identify the business value and market opportunity.

The workshop ended well as the participants were all happy, giving testimonies of how they have inspired to kick-start their new social enterprises and also scale up existing enterprises with what they have learnt.