HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
AND A SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR!

Cannot believe that we are already at the end of 2019! The year has flown by and has brought with it many highs and lows. The state of our economy has exacerbated the high levels of unemployment, and our youth have been the hardest hit. Collectively, there has to be a renewed effort in 2020 to encourage young people to support the notion of starting their own businesses after they’ve matriculated; with a viable business idea which solves a problem in their communities, and with the right level of guidance and support, our young people have the potential to run successful businesses which can possibly create employment in their communities too!

We have previously expressed our support of President Ramaphosa’s announcement to encourage teaching entrepreneurship at school level. We look forward to seeing how SA Teen Entrepreneur can integrate with the Department of Education in making this vision a reality.

The migration of our class-based entrepreneur programme to a digital platform has made significant progress in this last year, I believe that we are closer than we have ever been to reaching more schools across the country, and in fact across the Continent, with our entrepreneur content. Watch this space for a few announcements early in the New Year! The launch of our digital platform could not come at a more appropriate time, with 2020 being the Year of the African Entrepreneurs. We trust that our South African Government will do all that it can to get behind this theme and support youth entrepreneurship in a more meaningful way.

The New Year will also see us trialling Entrepreneur Societies with a small sample of schools in the Eastern Cape, with the intention to grow our programme throughout that province too. This is a major scoop for us; local governments and educators in other provinces are seeing the benefits of the work we have done in the Western Cape and are looking to replicate in their areas. We cannot wait to get started!

Our expansion and further growth have been stifled by a serious lack of funding support this past year. We do believe that the private sector is supportive of youth entrepreneurship, however, we hope to see support translating to significant financial investment in 2020. The rate of economic decline in our country is such that big business cannot but support initiatives which encourage employment creation and innovative responses to pressing problems.

Thank you to everyone who supported us in 2019, and who believed in our vision of creating an Entrepreneur Society in every one of the high schools across South Africa. We look forward to your continued support in 2020 and beyond!

All that now remains is to wish you a wonderful Holiday Season and a wildly successful New Year!

Lydia Zingoni

SA TEEN ENTREPRENEUR ON THE JUDGING PANEL OF THE WESTERN CAPE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARDS

Thank you to the organisers of the Western Cape Entrepreneurship Awards for nominating our CEO, Lydia Zingoni, to serve on your adjudication panel.There is so much creativity and innovative thinking amongst our entrepreneurs in the Western Cape; it is wonderful that their amazing achievements and potential is being recognised by a forum such as this one.

Well done and congratulations to all the deserving participants!

DEVELOPMENT OF OUR ONLINE PLATFORM IS PROGRESSING!

We’re very pleased with how the development of our online platform is coming along. We have completed the initial foundations for the registration and organisation of schools, learners, and societies online. Through a process of user feedback and adjustment, we will be able to tailor-make a platform which is best suited to meet the needs of young entrepreneurs across South Africa irrespective of their geographic location. We’re nearly ready to click the “go-live” button; watch this space!

A HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS, NADIA!
WE’RE SO PROUD OF YOU!

We’re so proud of all that Nadia has achieved this year in terms of her personal growth and development. She recently graduated after completing the Community Chest of the Western Cape’s After-School Development Programme, which has empowered her to continue to add value to the work that SA Teen Entrepreneur does.

Here’s Nadia’s own assessment of her time on the programme:

As a newly graduated After-School Practitioner, I truly value the whole experience. I’ve learnt that, in order to be the best version of myself, I must be equipped with the necessary skills to ensure my own social and emotional wellbeing, before I can build meaningful relationships with the learners in our programme.

I’ve learned how to demonstrate ways in which we can build an inclusive learning environment and discovered that there are different learners and that their needs and interests differ. With these new skills and knowledge I acquired during the Extended Education Practitioner Training Programme (EEPTP), I believe that we could take SA Teen Entrepreneur to new heights through enhancing our current performance appraisals, fostering more beneficial partnerships, increased parental involvement, and more career advice to young people.

Well done, Nadia!

SUPPORT US TO GROW OUR PROGRAMME

We believe in the work that we do, we see it changing the lives of young people, we see how they in turn are able to re-invest what they have learned into their communities.

We therefore call on our loyal readers/champions/partners/stakeholders to assist us in our fundraising initiative.

CLICK HERE TO PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT

Or share this link with the people in your circle to make it possible for us to reach more young people across the country, and the continent digitally!

Thank you for your ongoing support!

AN APPEAL FOR YOUR SUPPORT…

At Teen Entrepreneur we have seen what can be achieved when our partners rally around us to give support to our cause. We’d like to make an appeal to you again to please support SA Teen Entrepreneur as part of the MySchool Programme. If you are a supporter, and already have a beneficiary, we’d like to remind you that you are able to support up to 3 charitable organisations.

Your contribution is appreciated and can impact the sustainability of our programme significantly. If you are not a MySchool supporter yet, please sign up here: