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Villgro Kenya Team Selected for NextGen Ecosystem Builders Program
Gibson Murikui and Snider Mugese have been chosen to participate in the NextGen Ecosystem Builders Program alongside 45 other participants across Africa.
The management training program launched by Village Capital and the African Management Institute with support from the Dutch Good Growth Fund aims to equip mid-level management with both technical and soft skills to help them deliver better outcomes to the entrepreneurs and enterprises they serve.
According to Village Capital’s 2019 report Unlocking Pipeline Entrepreneur Support Organizations like Villgro Kenya face barriers to sustainability and growth. These barriers include talent attraction and retention, the ability to absorb increasing amounts of capital from donors, impact measurement, efficiency and productivity of internal operations, and time/budget to develop, test, and enhance products and services.
As Entrepreneur Support Organizations put most of their efforts in ensuring the success of the enterprises they support, little time is left for skill enhancement of critical team members. Programs like these equip key management with the necessary skills to deliver better outcomes.
Gibson, an Investment Manager with Villgro Kenya says this opportunity will give him an opportunity to develop both personally and professionally.
“The NextGen Ecosystem Builders program will give me an opportunity to focus both on personal improvement at a professional level and ecosystem interaction, collaboration and Improvement, which will see African enterprises not only getting the required support to move to the next level but also increased success stories with strong attribution to African Ecosystem builders.”
Speaking on her selection, Snider the current Finance Officer said the training came at the right time as she is transitioning to portfolio management. “I believe that the NextGen Ecosystem Builders management training will be a good opportunity for me to learn and grow professionally while interacting with different cultures. It will offer me a chance to understand the ecosystem better in order to engage the right stakeholders for pipeline generation, fundraising activities and connecting entrepreneurs to the right networks for mentorship.”
The management development program includes training on both technical skills and soft skills for participating mid-level team members and includes;
- Understanding your ecosystem, target entrepreneurs and engaging stakeholders
- Planning, executing and measuring the impact of a program/service for entrepreneurs
- Professional and management skill development
- Developing a culture of performance
- A practical implementation project within your organisation
- Cost to attend in-person training and all learning resources for 2 team members
Participants will also have the opportunity to connect with and learn from a network of peers and mentors across the continent, dedicated to the same vision of an integrated African ecosystem.
The program is designed to deliver impact at an organisational level. Although the training will be with the mid-level team members (department leads, partnerships, managers, incubator and accelerator managers, program managers) it will include significant input and time with at least one member of leadership (e.g. Managing Director, CEO, Founder/Co-Founder, COO) committing to support the team members throughout the program to deliver outcomes at an organisational level.
