On December 10, the recruitment phase of “WELL CAMP” program organized by Youth Cooperation Center of Dilijan NGO, has been finished.
It should be mentioned that the program aims to promote sustainable development of the province and stimulate entrepreneurship among young women of rural communities.
As a result of capacity building and practical learning, women will be able to implement and/or develop their entrepreneurial initiatives.
The target group of the program are those women, who don’t have enough resources, entrepreneurial skills, and business management awareness to improve their financial status.
Women and girls from Dilijan, Teghut, Haghartsin, Gosh, Khachardzan, Aghavnavank, Hovk have applied for the program. There were received more than 40 applications, which were studied in detail, 30 applicants were shortlisted, with whom short interviews have been implemented. As a result, 28 final participants, aged 20-30, have been selected from all 7 communities.
The majority of participants are from Dilijan, 12 participants, 7 from Haghartin community, 4 participants from Aghavnavank, 2 from Teghut, from Hovk, Gosh, and Khachardzan one participant from each community.
The program is intended to implement in 3 stages. As the main stage, it is planned to conduct a four-month online training. The course will begin with a substantial contribution to idea development, business model building, business management, resource allocation, networking, and teamwork, financial management, marketing, and sales. It is planned to have 2 courses per week, 2 hours each, 18 of which will be practical courses, and 12 – online meetings with speakers from different fields, including successful entrepreneurs.
A two-month-long mentorship program will be launched following the online training. Each of the participants will be matched with a business consultant who will guide the participants to rework on strengths and weaknesses of business concepts.
The final phase of the project is a one-week camp in the forests of Dilijan, which aims to carry out intensive, focused work on business models. Participants will travel, live in a camping area, work with experienced business experts, and finalize their business plans. There will be fiery conversations with leading, experienced entrepreneurs in the field, community representatives, who will share their experiences, success stories, motivate the participants to remain persistent in their initiatives.
At the end of the project, it is planned to organize a concluding event, where there will be representatives from CSOs, local governments, business sector, start-up incubators, who will get acquainted with the business ideas of the participants, see the prototypes of business models.
The jury invited to the event, which will be composed of business experts and community representatives, will select the two best business ideas, which will receive small grants to purchase the necessary items to launch the business idea.
This program was funded through a Department of State Public Diplomacy Section grant, and the opinions, findings and conclusions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of State.
