The International Business & Development Internship

Leadership Initiatives is working to end extreme poverty in Northern Nigeria through entrepreneurship and innovation. As part of the International Business & Development program, Leadership Initiatives identifies small business owners for our program who live under $1.90 a day, have little formal business education, and struggle to provide for their family’s basic needs.

Once business owners have completed training, Leadership Initiatives pairs International Business & Development interns with a business partner and business mentor. Interns are given the opportunity to help tackle major issues at the grassroots level by working directly with small business owners to support and incubate local entrepreneurs. Students will work with Leadership Initiatives staff over the course of nine months to provide income-generating solutions that focus on food supply, women empowerment, environment and sustainability, personal care, and mobility.

The International Business & Development Internship aims to introduce interns to the complexities and challenges of running a small business and working within community development. Interns will gain an understanding of the unwavering commitment, focus, and determination required to work within this field. From working with interns, local business owners will have new knowledge of entrepreneurial skills they need to create business opportunities that will contribute to socio-economic development and significantly transform their lives.

Our Internship Team

Our Internship Team

Our Business Partner

Gloria Bukata

Business Partner Statistics

Location:

Years Working:

Average Number of Customers Per Week:

Main Services:

Favorite Part of Her Job:

Number of Children She Has:

Rafin Zurfi, Bauchi, Nigeria

10

5

3

School Uniforms & Dresses

New Customers

Gloria is a 30-year-old woman from Bokkos, Plateau State, Nigeria. She currently lives in a small community in the Rafin Zurfi Axis of Bauchi State.

Gloria's daily routine revolves around her business and her family. She has three children between the ages of four and eight.

When she is not preparing the children for school, cooking for her family, cleaning the house, she works on fulfilling customer orders.

Her Story

Gloria Bukata

Community Impact

Gloria Bukata

Through her business, Gloria is able to pay for her sibling's education, send a monthly allowance to her parents, and support her husband.

In addition to allowing her to support her family, Gloria hopes to empower young women by passing down her tailoring skills.

Though she does not have any employees, Gloria is training three young women as her apprentices.

She is currently working from home but plans to expand to a storefront. Her tailoring business directly benefits seven people in her community.

Our Partnership

Gloria Bukata

Gloria is very excited and honored to partner with Leadership Initiatives and the participants of the International Leadership & Business Internship.

After more than ten years in tailoring business, Gloria is confident that the ideas from her International Leadership & Business Internship partners will allow her to expand her business.

Gloria hopes that this expansion will allow her to yield a greater profit, employ as well as empower young women, and give back to her community for many more years to come.

Hopes For The Future

Gloria Bukata

One day, Gloria hopes to turn her tailoring business into a fashion house where ready-made clothes will be available for her customers.

Gloria also wants to open a showroom to display her work and give her the opportunity to employ young women, single mothers, and widows from her community.

Gloria’s goal is to the women of her community the opportunity to escape the cycle of poverty and afford education for their children.

Through this partnership, Gloria knows that she can achieve her dreams and make a positive impact in her community.

Our Approach

FINANCIAL TRACKING

Financially literate entrepreneurs make optimal financial and economic decisions about savings, borrowing, and investments. Our team is working with [BP Name] to create an effective financial tracking system for [his/her] business finances, receipts, and daily costs.

ADVERTISING

Our team identified target markets and key demographics to create a customer acquisition plan. We are working with [BP Name] to redesign [his/her] brand and create effective marketing campaigns.

BUSINESS IMPROVEMENTS

Steady growth is a critical component of creating self-sustaining communities. Our team is working to identify key areas of opportunity for [BP Name] and design solutions to improve [his/her] business to foster growth.

Our Fundraising

$245

7

DONORS

STILL NEEDED

$750

GOAL

CLICK BELOW TO VIEW OUR GLOBALGIVING PAGE

Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced some of the highest economic growth rates globally over the past 10 years. While this means that people in these nations have become more optimistic about their socio-economic future, the region continues to face a myriad of problems. In order to continue steady growth and achieve a future of equitable conditions in the region, our International Internship Program team seeks to build stronger communities from the grassroots level through fundraising for community development.

Funds raised are used to incubate new business and community ventures, pay staff to run the program on-site, fund student-created solutions, and invest in training for local leaders and entrepreneurs. Leadership Initiatives uses fundraised money to develop a network of support for actionable change and accountability between our team, the Leadership Initiatives staff, and the community stakeholders we work with.