Partnering with Fountain Youth Initiative, a local non-profit in Kenya that develops programs to empower women and youth in the community, we posed the a question to local students: If you had unlimited resources, what issue based on the UN Sustainable Developmental Goals would you want to fix in Kenya or the World?

Students prepared presentations with their groups over the course of three days and with the help of the InfluenceHers and their teachers and came up with their presentation and solutions. All of the students gave amazing well researched presentation, despite their lack of resources such as computers or textbooks. At the end two groups for the two competing schools were chosen as the winners. They received schools supplies, backpacks, certificates, and lunch from InfluenceHers as their prize.

For this project we partnered with our little sister organization EmbraceHers, founded by an ambition 20-year old name Mary. During our trip she invited the InfluenceHers to be apart of a day of service with her team and co-organize an activity.

Mary has formed partnerships with various schools. She and her team organize empowerment projects and mentor a number of girls. The group spent the day at the school facilitating health talks lead by two nurses who were apart of the InfluenceHers Abroad group and an Art Therapy session led by author of Beauty for Ashes Alexia Young also apart of the InfluenceHers Abroad group. In the health talks the nurses spoke on topics designated by the school’s facilitators such as basic feminine hygiene practices and reproductive health. In the art therapy session the girls were given art materials and were prompted by Alexia through her story to use the art as a way to express what ever they wanted and share after if they desired.

The fundraiser was hosted and organized by actress, writer, and philanthropist, and InfluenceHer Sita Sarkar.

Sita traveled with InfluenceHers on our 2019 InfluenceHers Abroad trip to Kenya and was so moved by the group Creative Thespians and their commitment to the arts and empowering the youth in their community through the arts despite limited resources, she came back to New York and began planning a fundraiser for them. Bringing together local artists for a night of inspiration and entertainment, Sita was able to exceed her fundraising goal for the Creative Thespians, with 100% of proceeds going to them

The InfluenceHers spent the day with the women of the The Win Win Project, an initiative that aims to help local women, most of whom are widows or single mothers, learn to farm or expand their business by providing supplemental resources.

The initiative was started by two friends Luke McFarland and Sam Ridley, based in the U.S, and is ran by Suzan Mashala a young woman from Arusha. The InfluenceHers supported this project by working with Suzan to organize a day to meet the women and learn more about their stories and the mission of the project, making a donation, as well as hiring Suzan as our local tour guide.

We put together our collective skills and knowledge to brainstorm with the entrepreneurs apart of the a local Microfinance Program, on ways to scale their businesses.

Each InfluenceHer paired with local business owners to come up with tangible goals and ways to better manage their revenue as well as way to better market and promote their business At the end those who desired presented in front of the room. We’ve regularly followed up with participants and the organization staff who work with them regular to get updates.

The mentorship program is a key initiative for Fountain Youth Intiative, using it as a way to guide young and educate students in their community on various life subjects such as self-esteem, hygiene, college,their future aspirations and over-all well being, for two days the InfluenceHers got the chance to be guest mentors.

For this project, during our 2018 visit, the organization asked the InfluenceHers group, which consisted of doctors, educators, entrepreneurs, actors and more, to be guest mentors and help facilitate activities on the various life topics. Many of the topics that mentors in the program speak to the students about, such as reproductive health and menstral hygiene are, in many instances still considered taboo or simply not discussed at the home so the talk serve as a safe space for them to ask questions and get answers to their most pressing issues as adolescents and teenagers.t