The University of Cambridge, through Judge Business School and Cambridge Assessment, has teamed up with Camfed International, the leading African girls' education charity and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative to provide leadership and enterprise training for 450 disadvantaged young women in rural Zambia over the next three years.
The University of Cambridge, through Judge Business School and Cambridge Assessment, has teamed up with Camfed International, the leading African girls' education charity and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative to provide leadership and enterprise training for 450 disadvantaged young women in rural Zambia over the next three years.
10,000 Women is one of Goldman Sachs' largest corporate engagement programmes. It supports partnerships with universities and development organisations to provide a generation of women in under-served areas around the world with a business and management education. The initiative is grounded in the belief that expanding the entrepreneurial talent and managerial pool in these economies - especially among women - is one of the most important, yet too often neglected, means of increasing economic opportunity.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alison Richard, Professor Arnoud De Meyer, Director of Judge Business School and Ann Cotton, Executive Director of Camfed International, were in London yesterday for the UK launch of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative.
"One of the powerful ideas behind 10,000 Women is educational institutions, development organisations, and the private sector coming together to help address a profound challenge - driving and sharing economic growth," said Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Goldman Sachs Group. "I'm proud that these new partners, along with the people of Goldman Sachs, are committing their expertise and dedication to help 10,000 women achieve their dreams and, in the process, improve the quality and accessibility of business education for future generations of managers and entrepreneurs."
Professor Richard said: "The Cambridge Consortium is thrilled to partner with Goldman Sachs for the 10,000 Women initiative. This project will build African women leaders with the confidence, courage and capacity to transform their lives and those of their families, communities and nations."
Ann Cotton explained: "Together, we will create an innovative leadership and enterprise education programme for the young women of rural Zambia. With such vital skills, these women can lead the fight against poverty, transforming their life opportunities and those of future generations."
Camfed International, Judge Business School, and the Cambridge Assessment Group will collaborate to design, deliver and accredit the Goldman Sachs Young Women's Leadership and Enterprise Course, a pioneering programme uniquely tailored to the context of sub-Saharan Africa. It will launch in the rural region of Samfya, Zambia in December 2008. 150 high-achieving young women from disadvantaged backgrounds will be invited to participate in the first programme. Students will develop their entrepreneurial, business, and leadership skills as they participate in two intensive residential courses and a period of distance-learning and project work between the courses. In total, 450 women will benefit from the programme over three years.
Camfed (Campaign for Female Education) is a non-governmental organization dedicated to fighting poverty and HIV/AIDS in rural communities in Africa by educating girls and investing in their economic independence and leadership once they complete school. Since 1993, Camfed has been working in partnership with rural communities in Africa to set in motion a virtuous cycle of change. In 2007 408,000 young people benefited from Camfed's work in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania.
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