After a successful Accelerate-Her 2021 Programme, the Centre’s new cutting-edge women entrepreneurship programme is ready to welcome a new batch to the Phase One of the programme – The Weekend Bootcamp.

Accelerate-Her targets local women owners, operators, and managers to build the leadership and business skills of women entrepreneurs to grow their companies across a wide variety of industries and sectors. The Centre programme accelerates local small business through tailored workshops, access to one-on-one mentoring, and creating a supportive peer-learning environment for women.

This year, we saw over 130 women entrepreneurs from seven different regions across a multitude of sectors applied to be a part of the programme. From this list 35 women were shortlisted for Phase One and a further 15 will be shortlisted for Phase 2.

The Weekend Bootcamp, Phase One, features a three-day bootcamp where the participants will learn from peer and mentor connections, brainstorming for growth, practicing business pitches and building business model canvases.

The opening ceremony, held on Friday evening, saw remarks from the Honourable Dr. Vindhya Persaud – Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Rowena Elliott – President of the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry Guyana, Natina Vijaiya Singh – a Mentor from ExxonMobil Guyana, Joy Hart-Sjoberg – a past participant of the programme, and Dr. Natasha Gaskin-Peters – Director of the Centre.

“I am excited to welcome the second group of talented Guyanese women entrepreneurs to the Accelerate-Her Programme and the Weekend Bootcamp. Over these next three days, the participants will learn how to map out their business structure in the current and future business state, skills on how to pitch and network, and be guided by experienced mentors in the business industry. We (the Centre team) are ready to kick off Accelerate-Her 2.0 with this Weekend Bootcamp and be a part of the growth of the women in this room here.” said Dr. Natasha Gaskin-Peters, Director of the Centre for Local Business Development.

Women-led businesses in Guyana operate across a variety of diverse industries – each playing a much-needed part in the economic development in Guyana. The Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry Guyana (WCCIG) and Ministry of Human Services and Social Security continues to support the Accelerate-Her Programme and the growth of female entrepreneurs in Guyana.

The Centre and the Accelerate-Her Programme receive financial support from the Greater Guyana Initiative, funded by the Stabroek Block co-venturers ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC. For more information please visit: https://centreguyana.com/accelerate-her/