U.S. Embassy Nairobi: Youth Entrepreneurship MOOC Camps Grant

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

American Spaces are vibrant, active places that offer innovative, interactive,engaging programs to capture the interest of visitors. One such program is onhow to start and succeed in business. Starting a business is a daunting task,with multiple steps, not all of which are straightforward. The entrepreneurialprocess requires prospective business owners to have a tremendous amount ofdrive, to understand the development process, to know their communities, todevelop skilled marketing plans, and to have a basic understanding of theday-to-day operations of a successful business. Imparting such knowledge is notstraightforward, either; it is not teaching so much as guiding prospectivebusiness owners to teach themselves. Kenya has 5 American Spaces located in Nairobi, Mombasa, Lamu and Nakuru.

This project will be based on selected entrepreneurial massiveopen online courses (MOOCS) camps at American Spaces in Kenya. MOOC Camps arein-person discussions centered on free, online and open courses. Blending MOOCswith in-person activities will serve to: expose key audiences to U.S highereducation, engage partners and local leaders in advancing community-basedlearning, make use of modern learning tools and build a community of onlinelearners for purposes of business networking, coaching and mentoring.

Proposals must include a maximum $1,250 component for independentprogram impact evaluation.

The project supports the Embassy’s strategic goals of improvinggovernance and supporting economic prosperity through outreach, engagement, andtraining to disaffected and at-risk youth. Ideal partners includeorganizations that use skills learning to influence social change; Startup hubs,local NGO leaders, USG exchange program alumni, Fulbright grantees who workwith youth, using skills building as a means to bridge social gaps and toprevent engagement in harmful and destructive activities.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Public Affairs Section of theU.S. Embassy in Nairobi announces an open competition for organizations tosubmit applications to design and implement Youth Entrepreneurship MOOCCamps at American Spaces in Kenya.

PriorityRegion: AcrossAmerican Spaces in Kenya (Nairobi, Mombasa, Lamu and Nakuru)

  ProgramObjectives:

The projectimplementers will identify students in the “intermediary” phase betweenhigh-school and university and equip them with skills to turn entrepreneurialcontent into action and apply the lessons they learn in their own lives and bettertheir communities.

 Specifically,the project should:

  1)     Identify andtrain at least 100 vulnerable youth – 15 to 35 years old. 

2)     Prioritize genderbalance among participants.

3)     Preparestudents to take an online course and use the platform, especially if this istheir first online course.

4)     Building communityof learners where discussions can continue between weekly discussions onlineand among participants through Facebook & online groups.

5)     Buildparticipants capacity to turn learnt content into action to better their lives.

6)     Arrange guestspeakers to include Embassy speakers and alumni of US Government sponsoredexchange programs and other activities that build upon the course material toenrich the program.

7)      Build a mentorship program with established entrepreneursand startup hubs.

8)     Encourage participantsto submit business proposals up to 1,000 USD – top 3 receive funding. 

  Participants and Audiences:

Students in the “intermediary”phase between high-school and university are thetarget audience for this project.

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

American Spaces are vibrant, active places that offer innovative, interactive,engaging programs to capture the interest of visitors. One such program is onhow to start and succeed in business. Starting a business is a daunting task,with multiple steps, not all of which are straightforward. The entrepreneurialprocess requires prospective business owners to have a tremendous amount ofdrive, to understand the development process, to know their communities, todevelop skilled marketing plans, and to have a basic understanding of theday-to-day operations of a successful business. Imparting such knowledge is notstraightforward, either; it is not teaching so much as guiding prospectivebusiness owners to teach themselves. Kenya has 5 American Spaces located in Nairobi, Mombasa, Lamu and Nakuru.

This project will be based on selected entrepreneurial massiveopen online courses (MOOCS) camps at American Spaces in Kenya. MOOC Camps arein-person discussions centered on free, online and open courses. Blending MOOCswith in-person activities will serve to: expose key audiences to U.S highereducation, engage partners and local leaders in advancing community-basedlearning, make use of modern learning tools and build a community of onlinelearners for purposes of business networking, coaching and mentoring.

Proposals must include a maximum $1,250 component for independentprogram impact evaluation.

The project supports the Embassy’s strategic goals of improvinggovernance and supporting economic prosperity through outreach, engagement, andtraining to disaffected and at-risk youth. Ideal partners includeorganizations that use skills learning to influence social change; Startup hubs,local NGO leaders, USG exchange program alumni, Fulbright grantees who workwith youth, using skills building as a means to bridge social gaps and toprevent engagement in harmful and destructive activities.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Public Affairs Section of theU.S. Embassy in Nairobi announces an open competition for organizations tosubmit applications to design and implement Youth Entrepreneurship MOOCCamps at American Spaces in Kenya.

PriorityRegion: AcrossAmerican Spaces in Kenya (Nairobi, Mombasa, Lamu and Nakuru)

  ProgramObjectives:

The projectimplementers will identify students in the “intermediary” phase betweenhigh-school and university and equip them with skills to turn entrepreneurialcontent into action and apply the lessons they learn in their own lives and bettertheir communities.

 Specifically,the project should:

  1)     Identify andtrain at least 100 vulnerable youth – 15 to 35 years old. 

2)     Prioritize genderbalance among participants.

3)     Preparestudents to take an online course and use the platform, especially if this istheir first online course.

4)     Building communityof learners where discussions can continue between weekly discussions onlineand among participants through Facebook & online groups.

5)     Buildparticipants capacity to turn learnt content into action to better their lives.

6)     Arrange guestspeakers to include Embassy speakers and alumni of US Government sponsoredexchange programs and other activities that build upon the course material toenrich the program.

7)      Build a mentorship program with established entrepreneursand startup hubs.

8)     Encourage participantsto submit business proposals up to 1,000 USD – top 3 receive funding. 

  Participants and Audiences:

Students in the “intermediary”phase between high-school and university are thetarget audience for this project.