Street Business School
Street Business School (SBS) empowers women in Africa and Asia to become thriving entrepreneurs, lifting themselves and their families to achieve a more vibrant future. Our one-of-a-kind livelihood training curriculum teaches women living in poverty the tools they need to successfully start and grow microbusinesses. The program is designed for localization and for those who may not have a significant formal education, plus it includes critical confidence building components.
Debra Grosh
P&G Alumni Grant Champion
Debra Grosh
11-years in U.S. Product Supply
As an Alumni sponsor, Deb has been involved with SBS for the past year and is among the organization’s fundraising leaders. She brings an established history of working to support women in business, an objective fully aligned with that of SBS.
“For SBS, the effectiveness of their entrepreneurial training program is evident by their growth and proven successes. They are fulfilling their mission to allow women to break out of poverty through education and training, specific to their needs and environment. They are truly reducing poverty for women and for their families.” ~Debra Grosh
Street Business School is a six-month, eight module, community classroom uniquely tailored to meet the needs of women living in deep poverty. The program is designed to support women regardless of their educational attainment, literacy level, or experience in starting a business. SBS has now aligned with 17 NGO partners in Asia to become certified to coach the SBS curriculum and augment their existing services. Partner organizations will customize SBS for their community and deliver it locally to boost women’s confidence and income.
The PGAF grant of $20,000 will be used to support the expansion among four Asian partners, train 600 women, create more than 500 jobs from as many as 150 new individual (small) ventures, and positively impact as many as 3,000 community members. Partner NGOs are certified at an eight-day, in-person workshop or a 6-week virtual program which the grant will help support. Each NGO certifies two program team members as SBS Lead Coaches. Provided resources include all the curriculum and materials needed for implementation, monitoring and evaluations (M&E) tools, licenses for our Salesforce data collection system, co-branded collateral, and enrollment into the SBS peer-learning global network.
“My Mind is Now Awake”
Initially, Odiira was afraid to start any business because she didn’t believe she could be successful. She feared failure. “Before starting anything, you doubt your chances of succeeding, especially in the business world as a local woman with no business skills.”
Odiira is grateful to Street Business School for helping her realize her potential as a confident entrepreneur who can achieve anything that she puts her mind to. “I am now very confident, and I understand that I can start any business even if I have no capital. My mind is now awake, and I see many entrepreneurship opportunities in my community.” Odiira