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Joseph Wekesa wishes he knew about Sinapis as a struggling entrepreneur. Before joining our team in 2018, Joseph was an aspiring entrepreneur. At the outset of his journey, he understood entrepreneurship as a simple process of buying, selling, and making money.
In university, he started an agricultural technology business that failed miserably. Launching as a solo entrepreneur taught Joseph learned that launching, scaling, and navigating a business without a support network and community is challenging, especially in the face of market pressures.
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Joseph and his wife Leah came to the Sinapis Entrepreneur Academy in 2018-2019 praying that what they would learn would help them keep Jazza Centre going and ultimately grow. Not only do they believe what they learned during the Academy and through our Fast Track Accelerator helped them survive, they believe it has helped them thrive.
They have trained and placed over 5,500 domestic workers in stable home management positions throughout Kenya through June 2022. These positions offer up to a 50% pay increase over the industry average, national health and social security benefits, and training that extends the length of placement and improves self-confidence.
Sandra Ejang realized that her engineering job could not afford the upbringing she would have preferred for her four children. As she and her husband discussed what side business to enter to help the family finances, they stumbled upon an advert inviting would-be investors to venture into honey production.
Sandra recalls that as her business grew, new problems emerged. Fortunately, at this point, a friend who had gone through the program introduced Sandra to Sinapis Entrepreneur Academy. "When I looked at the program outline, it was a great fit for my needs. My biggest challenge was managing my financials. At some point, I was not even sure if the business was profitable," she says.
Sinapis vision to equip business owners and build Kingdom-focused relationships doesn’t end at the completion of a program. This is why we have a team dedicated to serving alumni years after they've successfully completed a program. One of their goals is to empower members in various cohorts to step into leadership and build community among their peers. We call them, Alumni Champions. The title of “Alumni Champion” is given to those who have stepped into a leadership role at a cohort level and beyond.
Recently, Sinapis hosted an Alumni Champions’ dinner to recognize and celebrate alumni who have been at the forefront of spearheading alumni engagement within their cohorts.