Kamina Friends has partnered with the Sirolli Institute - a global, not-for-profit education and training organization founded in 1996 by Ernesto Sirolli, Ph.D. Dr. Sirolli applied lessons he learned as a young volunteer in Africa to create the Enterprise Facilitation®(EF®) approach to economic development. This method focuses on small business entrepreneurs and has proven effective in over 300 communities around the world. EF® says that economic development is based on trust and cooperation and that entrepreneurs are passionate dreamers who need support to transform their dreams into reality.

Aspiring entrepreneurs receive personal attention from a locally-hired, full-time ‘Enterprise Facilitator’ who operates in confidence and provides services free of charge. Approachable, honest, experienced, resourceful, energetic and creative, the Facilitator is a loaded spring ready to explode into action on behalf of the entrepreneur/client. The Facilitator coaches those with business ideas and especially teaches that successful businesses require superb skills in 3 key areas:

1. Product
2. Sales/Marketing
3. Finance/Administrative

The successful entrepreneur pursues what s/he loves and partners with people who compliment his/her skills – since no individual is likely to excel at all three critical skillsets, team-building is critical for success. The Facilitator helps entrepreneurs locate skilled people to assist them by leveraging the networking abilities of a local Board of volunteers. The local Board of volunteers includes representatives of all key constituencies and experience / skill-sets in the community and meets at least monthly with the Facilitator to brainstorm and problem-solve on behalf of clients.

EF® looks deceptively simple but it takes intensive energy and commitment to deliver and receive the training necessary to put in place such a nurturing framework within a community. Once the Facilitator and Board are in place and trained, as they are now in Kamina, and the first few aspiring entrepreneurs demonstrate success, then success breeds success. This is not a project with an end-date. Enterprise Facilitation is selfsustaining!

Our Facilitator as he helps a client