Driving The Economy: African Women's Entrepreneurship Program
Fashion industry entrepreneurs from Africa who have been hand-selected as participants in the U.S. Department of State African Women's Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) will be arriving in Los Angeles later this week.
Online, June 7, 2012 (Newswire.com) - The International Visitors Council of Los Angeles will be welcoming fifteen fashion industry entrepreneurs from Africa who have been hand-selected as participants in the U.S. Department of State African Women's Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP). The national program kicked-off on Monday in New York City where the delegation engaged in a conversation with fashion designer, philanthropist and Chairman/Founder of DVF Studio LP, Diane von Furstenberg. Their program will continue in L.A. to highlight some of the most successful entrepreneurship and fashion design innovation in the U.S.
AWEP was launched in July 2010 by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the United States/sub-Saharan Africa Trade and Economic Co-operation Forum. The program is an outreach, education, and engagement initiative that works with African women entrepreneurs to promote business growth; increase trade both regionally and to U.S. markets; create better business environments; and empower African women entrepreneurs to become voices of change in their communities. Secretary Clinton says "Women can be the rock on which a freer, safer, more prosperous Africa is built. They just need the opportunity."
The esteemed delegates hail from Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo and Zimbabwe. Each of the women holds a high ranking position in the fashion industry in their respective country. While in Los Angeles the women will engage in professional development training and networking opportunities with American counterparts from civil society, corporations, industry associations, non-profit organizations, and multilateral development organizations. The women will develop business partnerships and learn best business practices to build their women-owned small and medium enterprises in their home countries.
In addition to their professional development, the women will have the opportunity to experience Los Angeles hospitality in the homes of Citizen Diplomats of the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles, the non-profit organization arranging their visit.
Since 1980, the International Visitors Council of Los Angeles (IVCLA) has been arranging exchange programs for nearly one thousand visitors from more than one hundred countries each year. IVCLA's programs provide participants with a first-hand experience of the way of life in the U.S., our institutions, our values and our culture. These exchange programs challenge stereotypes and forge solid links in the global marketplace, informing the visitors about the people, organizations and businesses.
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