What is the name of your organization?
Apps and Girls
What is the name of your solution?
Jovia Program
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
The Advanced IT & Entrepreneurship Training and Incubation for Young Women project addresses the critical issue of the digital gender divide.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Kinondoni, Tanzania
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
TZA
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
In Tanzania, a significant number of girls and young-women drop-out of school due to socio-economic challenges such as financial constraints, leading to difficulties in accessing decent employment. With limited exposure and access to digital tools and skills, they face significant barriers to entering the formal workforce, particularly in ICT, deepening the digital gender divide and excluding them from participating in and benefiting from the digital economy.The problem is further compounded by the lack of visible female role models in the digital sector, which reinforces the digital gender gap and limits young women’s aspirations. Additionally, the scarcity of affordable, accessible, and gender-responsive digital training programs, combined with limited support systems to help young women transition from training to meaningful employment or entrepreneurship creates a major barrier to their participation in the digital economy.The Jovia program addresses this critical issue by offering advanced IT and entrepreneurship training to young women aged 17-25, coupled with online and offline mentorship and incubation. It empowers young women to gain in-demand skills, launch tech-based ventures, and access ICT career pathways. Ultimately, Jovia reduces youth unemployment, promotes digital inclusion, and advances women’s socio-economic empowerment by bridging the gender-gap in the tech sector
What is your solution?
Jovia is a tech-based workforce development program that provides advanced IT and entrepreneurship training to empower underprivileged young women aged 17–25 in Tanzania with the digital and business skills needed to succeed in the ICT sector. The solution combines three core elements:
Advanced IT and entrepreneurship training : a 3-month, high-quality, gender-responsive curriculum covering website development, digital marketing, business development and management, financial literacy and leadership.
Mentorship and incubation : both online and offline, helping participants launch and grow tech-enabled ventures, or prepare for formal job opportunities.
Post-training support : including access to networks, pitch competitions, seed funding opportunities, job placement support, linkages to further education opportunities and career development.
The Jovia program addresses both the digital skills gap and economic exclusion by offering a structured pathway from learning to earning. It is designed to be inclusive, scalable, and locally relevant, ensuring participants gain the skills, confidence, and community they need to transition into employment, further education, or entrepreneurship.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Jovia serves underprivileged girls and young women aged 17–25 in Tanzania who have dropped out of school due to socio-economic barriers and are unemployed or underemployed. Most come from low-income households, with limited access to digital tools, formal education, or professional networks, leaving them excluded from the digital economy and formal workforce.
Through Jovia, participants gain in-demand digital and business skills, along with mentorship, incubation, and career development support. This equips them to access new income-generating opportunities whether through employment in ICT-related roles, launching their own tech-based ventures, or continuing into higher education.
Beyond economic benefits, the program fosters confidence, leadership, and digital inclusion. Many participants go on to become role models and change makers within their communities, challenging traditional gender norms and inspiring other girls.
By transforming individual lives, Jovia also contributes to broader systemic change; reducing the digital gender divide, increasing women’s representation in tech, and promoting inclusive economic growth in under served communities