2022 Graduation
Over the month of July we celebrated graduations across the three communities where we work. For the third time since we began our 15-month Fellowship Program in 2018, we honored these graduates’ commitment, energy and focus throughout the process, and launched the next step in their entrepreneurial journey. We heard testimonies of their growth and learnings, provided new materials to all participants and special gifts to the most dedicated, and announced the winners of our Business Plan Competition. And of course, we danced.
Aside from being an important celebration and milestone, these graduations serve as a foundational guide for our work. As we’ve developed our Fellowship Program over the years, we’ve continued to push into the graduation model as the structure that suits it best, repeatedly seeing its value in providing focus, motivation, learnings and results. Providing industry training and investment, personal development and mentorship, and finally, the business plan competition, through a 15 month graduation model allows each step to build on the previous within a set timeline and seasonal parameters, ensuring that both staff and Fellows have an end goal in mind. When Fellows know the end date from the very beginning of the Fellowship, they are more driven to take advantage of the trainings and materials provided, and to adopt them into their own daily rhythms. For our staff, we get to truly perfect our craft through continuous practice- with each Fellowship cycle we learn from the previous, both in the stories shared and the data collected, and are able to steadily improve our work.
Overall, we are seeing the results. Upon graduation fellows report a 35% increase in decision-making confidence and a 40% increase in decisions made with their entire family, and one year after graduation fellows on average have experienced a 150% increase in income and 130% increase in monthly savings compared to their pre-program levels. At its core, the graduation model supports and drives transformation- that the lives of its participants will be different upon leaving the program than they were at its beginning. These are just a few of the indicators that lead us to only feel more confident in the graduation model as a base for our program.
With each class of graduating Fellows we are reminded of the challenges they’ve faced, the obstacles they’ve overcome and the choice they’ve made to apply themselves to a better tomorrow. We are seeing that by utilizing the materials and learnings from the Fellowship Program, as well as the relationships formed with staff and other Fellows, they can create substantial and long-lasting impact for themselves, their families and their communities. And we are able to celebrate with them the step from inside the program to out- stronger and more confident than before, equipped with more skills and tools and supported by a whole new social network. It’s both an ending and a beginning, a key milestone in their story, and a chance for us all to appreciate the change that is happening.