SOCIAL INNOVATION ACADEMY (SINA)
DURATION | 5 Months
Overview
Marginalized youth and refugees lack opportunities to create a dignified life and are expected to remain in poverty. Social Innovation Academies in East Africa are transforming the educational system and allowing marginalized communities to create their own solutions and social enterprises tackling root causes of social problems.
SINA was born in 2014 after of six years of educational sponsorships for Ugandan orphans, who could not find meaningful employment or go to university after completing high school. SINA unleashes the untapped potentials of marginalized young people and refugees to turn their challenges into opportunities through the development of social enterprises. A five-step empowerment process supports “scholars” to develop personal and professional skills to create their own enterprises.
SINA has been able to create mindset changes and unleash the potential of youth. Over 30 social enterprises have been born at SINA and have impacted close to 1 million lives with their products and services. SINA Scholars have also won numerous international awards.
Main Activities
- Support SINA social enterprises and entrepreneurs in Mpigi, Uganda to structure their enterprises towards professionalization and a dynamic share allocation
- Create strategic development and growth plans to increasing social impact and profitability of existing social enterprises
- Support in the Business Development processes, mainly finance, production and marketing, for the social enterprises to establish partnerships and become investment ready
- Develop training materials and support materials for social enterprise development
- Manage an online engagement platform of international experts and mentors supporting SINA entrepreneurs remotely
- Grow ongoing income generation enterprises in the different SINA Communities for financial self-sustainability
- Maintain open and professional relations with team members, promoting a strong team spirit and providing oversight and guidance in existing social enterprises
Requirements
- Preferably 1 year of hands-on work experience in Social Entrepreneurship, Consulting, a Start-up or a related field
- University degree in a field such as: Business Administration, Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Finance
- Strong writing, communication and prioritization skills
- Proficiency in English
- Ability to work independently with little or no supervision
- Derive energy from facing challenges and create solutions
- Willingness to stay in Uganda full time for a minimum of 5 months in somewhat basic living conditions
Languages: English | Fluent
Accommodation: Guesthouse
Visa: Tourism Visa | At arrival at the airport
Health Insurance: International travel insurance is highly preferred for the whole internship
