The Black upStart to Train Eswatini’s Entrepreneurs
The Black upStart (TBuS), a U.S.-based training initiative serving African-American innovators, will make its debut in Eswatini from June 10-15, 2019. Working primarily with Startup Grind Eswatini and the Royal Science & Technology Park’s Incubation Center, founder and CEO of TBuS, Ms. Kezia Williams, will focus her attention on Eswatini’s out-of-school youth, women entrepreneurs, and RSTP participants through intensive boot camps. She will also conduct two motivational talks to introduce audiences to a growth mindset and dissect the key traits of successful entrepreneurs.
Through this program, the U.S. Embassy in Eswatini seeks to: 1) increase economic skills for youth and women to accelerate their full participation in society, 2) foster greater understanding of and engagement around entrepreneurship and professional development, and 3) assist entrepreneurs in developing practical action plans to scale their businesses.
The Black upStart
Founder & CEO
Ms. Kezia M. Williams, Founder and CEO of The Black upStart, runs a U.S based training initiative serving African-American innovators interested in starting successful and profitable job-creating small businesses.
Ms. Kezia M. Williams, Founder and CEO of The Black upStart, runs a U.S based training initiative serving African-American innovators interested in starting successful and profitable job-creating small businesses. Their signature program, The Black upStart Boot Camp, convenes a small cohort of aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators for a three-or-six day training where they learn to: use design thinking to validate their business ideas; apply lean startup methodology to launch quickly; identify their target market; make a minimum viable product; overcome business obstacles specific to race; and pitch their business idea to financial institutions and angel investors.
Ms. Williams is very energetic, highly motivated, and well qualified to work with Swati entrepreneurs, share best practices, and empower youth and women to pursue their entrepreneurial endeavors. She also has a proven record of success. Out of 200 Black upStart entrepreneurs trained, 41% are still in business. Nearly 85% of their alumni are women. The organization has a reach of a quarter million people and its work has been featured in Essence Magazine, Blavity, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Black Enterprise.
Full biography available at https://www.huffpost.com/author/kezia-m-williams
Startup Grind Mbabane
Director
See Bio
Bertha also facilitates workshops and events on entrepreneurship, which are specifically designed for unemployed and/or out-of-school youth between the age of 18 to 35 who want to start a business or scale their small businesses through Google for Startup's Startup Grind Mbabane. She has developed a Curriculum called, "Begin Your Dreams"which helps youth map out their dreams with actions and budgets.
Bertha has participated in the 2019 Mandela Washington Fellowship (YALI) where she has obtained personal and business development skills in business, social Entrepreneurship, personal development and financial skills at the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana.
