Over the last decade, Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Canada has been committed to supporting social ventures that tackle poverty and inequality in sub-Saharan Africa.
As the COVID-19 outbreak continues, businesses across the world are facing significant challenges. In these situations, the poorest and most vulnerable in the global south are who suffer the most. Social ventures are amongst those hit the hardest.
With over 20 years of leadership and professional development experience under our belt, EWB launched the Virtual Talent xChange (VTX) to facilitate matching bright, professional talent with the needs of our social venture partners in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Through this initiative, seasoned professionals from all over the world volunteer their skills, virtually from the comfort of their homes, to support the sustainability and growth of early-stage initiatives that better the lives of hundreds of thousands of people facing poverty and inequity.
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SEEKING PROFESSIONAL TALENT
Our venture partners in sub-Saharan Africa have diverse talent needs to support their journey:
- Business development – growth strategy development, financial analysis, team management, etc.
- Web and Software Development – coding and development, UI/UX design
- Monitoring & Evaluation – evaluation strategy development, data analysis
- Digital Marketing – marketing strategy development, website development, social media strategy and engagement, etc.
- Communication & Fundraising – improving pitch decks, fundraising strategy development, copy editing and review
- Engineering and technical disciplines – structural reviews, software engineering
Volunteering through the Virtual Talent xChange not only supports social ventures scale their impact in their own communities, but also allows our volunteers to hone their professional and technical expertise; train or support the professional capacities of their counterparts across the Atlantic; build management and coaching skills; and develop long-lasting interpersonal and intercultural connections through cross-continental collaboration.
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YOUR SUPPORT MATTERS: Testimonials from Ventures
Kabwela Malupande, CEO
Kungula Africa
Zambia
Kungula Africa are a for-profit social enterprise seeking innovative solutions to formalise highly fragmented, underserved, and informal open-air food markets in Africa, and were seeking a digital communications manager to help with developing systematic content development frameworks for informing, advertising and engaging with their online community.
“Bethlehem [VTX Volunteer] has exceeded our expectations and become a relevant force in our team. We cannot honestly believe that our time with her is slowly coming to an end. This was our first time having volunteers through the EWB VTX programme. We would like to express our dearest gratitude to EWB for giving our team this opportunity to work with bright and exceptional talent committed to uplifting the lives of marginalised communities. It was extremely valuable for our team.”
Haddijah Nankaja, Venture Lead
Community Women Enterprise Network (CWEN)
Uganda
The Community Women Enterprise Network (CWEN) is a business resource for women entrepreneurs across all sectors, and provides business information, technical support and guidance to help their members reach out to greater markets, create growing revenues and promote their businesses with more focus and clarity.
“The program [Virtual Talent xChange] really supported our work. We worked with Lisa [VTX Volunteer] on our five year strategic plan and now we can now happily articulate our short term and long term goals. She also supported us in preparing a presentation for a meeting with a potential partner, the Founder and CEO The Hatchery,Chicago. We are still working together with Samantha [VTX Volunteer] on supporting one of our entrepreneurs to gain visibility and potential funding through blogging and profiling. Samantha has also through her work and network identified potential partners for CWEN”
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