Sesi Fellowship and Skill Hub

I am applying for the Elevate Prize because of the value that it brings to young purpose-driven leaders and activists. I am looking for an opportunity that will positively contribute to the amplification of the impact that my team and myself have made in social development. An opportunity that provides more than just financial support but also provides support programs to strengthen my skills and to network with like minded individuals. The Elevate Prize is the perfect opportunity to elevate the growth of my work and make more impact in the lives of those I serve together with my team.  

If selected, I would use the Elevate Prize funding to create more impact in the lives of adolescent girls and young women in low income communities. We currently provide holistic mentorship to adolescent girls which includes education support, increasing access to sexual and reproductive health and rights, GBV survivor support, career guidance, etc. We also provide skill and entrepreneurship capacity development to unemployed women in low income in skills like jewellery making, baking, nail technician skills, coding, etc. The funds will be used to amplify these programs and improve the capacity of the organisation to reach more women.

I grew up in a rural village in South Africa that exposed me to social ills like GBV, alcoholism, poverty, high unemployment, teenage pregnancy, school dropping out and crime. As a young girl, the exposure to these realities created limited opportunities to succeed and the chances of young girls not falling victim to any one of the social ills was very low. Our family migrated to a city to seek better economic opportunities and being exposed to more information and opportunities changed my life. Since then, I have dedicated my leadership and early law career to advancing social justice and socio-economic freedom within the context of gender equality, peace building and human rights protection through advocacy and campaigning, groundwork at a grassroot level, research and advisory work in social development and coordinating women empowerment programs. I started Sesi Fellowship and Skill Hub with the intention of creating better opportunities and platforms for adolescent girls and young women in low income opportunities to increase their chances of social and economic growth. My goal for the future is to advance the programs across communities in South Africa so that more women are reached and their lives are bettered.

Sesi Fellowship and Skill Hub seeks to address the lack of all round mentorship that exists in our low income communities that expose adolescent girls to period poverty, academic misguidance, mental health issues, teenage pregnancy and other issues associated with poverty cycles. We address this by providing holistic mentorship on their lifestyles and professional growth. 

The organiation also addresses lack of economic opportunities for womxn who are unemployed due to poverty circumstances e.g. school drop-outs or teenage pregnancy. We address this through a mobile skill hub that aims to provide womxn with coaching to improve or learn new professional and informal skills that they will need to compete successfully in the economic space. Professional and informal skills including sports, public speaking, computer skills, entrepreneurial skills, digital skills, agricultural skills, coding, etc. 

Lastly, there is need for reform in policy and programming that impact womxn. We use advocacy and campaigning to advance gender equality and justice in all areas affecting adolescent girls and young womxn (AGYW) and womxn (inclusive of non-conforming individuals).

The training that will be provided and facilitated by Sesi Skill Hub will be beneficial in placing women in a more advantageous position to compete successfully in the job market. While ensuring that women are also prepared for the 4IR. We train, provide entrepreneurship training and provide them with resources to kick start their businesses. It allows women with no formal education to also advance themselves economically. We train in skills like agricultural skills, baking and cooking, beauty technicians (hair, makeup and nails), etc. 

We provide holistic mentorship for adolescent girls and young womxn in low income communities. Our program includes physical, mental emotional, career/academic progress integrity and ensures that we go into the communities as opposed to removing the AGYW from their every day lives. We also ensure that there is increasing access to information and opportunities post the mentorship.

Our advocacy and campaigning incorporates a lot of art based activism. We directly involve real time stories through storytelling, essay writing, publications of report, data collection, etc. to present before decision makers to influence policy and programming.

Our organisation has made such a big impact in the lives of AGYW and womxn in South Africa. This is how we are doing that:

1. We have trained over 50 people in professional skills and they have given us some amazing feedback regarding how what we have trained them in has advanced them professionally. We have even had a greater call for professional training but due to resources we can only offer so much.

2. We have created mentorship programs for AGYW and will be implementing some more mentorship later in the year. Through our observations and conversations with the AGYW - there has been such a big change in how they view life and just the self-belief that they gain from the program. Most of the AGYW have successfully gone into tertiary school and are doing very well. Some have found work post-secondary school so that they can help their poor families.

3. Our advocacy and campaigning has influenced government decision making in approaches to AGYW and other gender issues. It has been such a pleasure to see. We have gone through meetings, petitioning, social media awareness programs, report writing, data collection for evidence, etc.