The National Commission for Women has joined hands with the Centre of Excellence for Social Innovation (CESI) of the Indian Institute of Management, Kozhikode to offer professional training to women entrepreneurs who wish to launch their entrepreneurial careers as well as a mentoring program for existing women entrepreneurs looking to scale up their businesses.
As part of the Commission’s effort to strengthen and build entrepreneurial capabilities among women entrepreneurs, it has developed an online training program to provide women entrepreneurs access to knowledge and skills required to grow and sustain their entrepreneurial ventures.
Aspiring women entrepreneurs can choose between two programs tailored to their current careers and skill sets; ‘Foundation Program in Entrepreneurship’ for those looking to enter the entrepreneurial arena and an ‘Advanced Program in Entrepreneurship’ for those seeking to scale up their businesses. The four-month programmes will include lectures, discussions, entrepreneurship talks, and mentoring from various subject matter experts.
Chairperson, National Commission for Women, Ms Rekha Sharma said that the Commission has always sought to ensure equal opportunities for women in all spheres of life. “As economic independence is a key factor in women’s empowerment, the Commission strives to provide women access to knowledge and skills they need to grow and sustain their businesses. Our goal is to help women develop the skills and perspectives needed to start and run sustainable businesses and contribute to the society,” said Ms Sharma.
The Foundation program aims to develop the entrepreneurial skills needed to identify and build a business as well as the managerial capabilities to run the enterprise successfully. Participants of the Advanced program will learn to fine-tune their business model, expand their markets, access funding, and diversify their products and services.
The Foundation program will consist of 60 hours of learning, including 40 hours of subject sessions and 20 hours of mentoring and Q&A, while the Advanced Program will consist of 60 hours of learning, with 20 hours of subject sessions and 40 hours dedicated to mentoring and Q&A. The training and courses will be offered in English and Malayalam. Women interested in participating in the programme can register online on the MyGov portal at https://innovateindia.mygov.in/entrepreneurship-program-for-women/ till August 16th, 2022.