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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 who live under $1.90 a day, have little formal business education, and are struggling 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
CLICK EACH MEMBER TO LEARN MORE.
Misha Beiramee
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School
Class of 2025
Misha Beiramee is a rising 10th grader at St Andrew's Episcopal School. She is taking an Iranian-American student who works hard to achieve her goals.
Misha Beiramee is very eager to play tennis for her school this school year, and many more to come. During her free time, she likes to read, cook, and practice the piano.
Misha Beiramee is excited to be participating in the International Business & Development Internship. She hopes to someday open up a business of her own and is greatly looking forward to helping another person with their business.
Shyna Kashi
Montgomery Blair High School
Class of 2025
Shyna Kashi is a sophomore at Montgomery Blair High School. She is an Honor Roll student who is also part of her school’s science, technology, engineering, and math magnet program, where she takes advanced level and advanced placement classes.
Shyna enjoys playing soccer for her school and club team, and running indoor and outdoor track for her school. She participates in HOSA, where she is part of the finance team which works to fundraise and apply for grants to benefit the club, and last year she qualified for the state leadership conference in three different events. Additionally, she is part of her grade’s class council, where she was voted by the student body to be vice president of her grade during her freshman year. In her free time she enjoys baking, playing sports with her friends, traveling, and taking online computer science and engineering classes.
Shyna is looking forward to the International Business & Development Internship because she cannot wait to work with a real life entrepreneur and gain experience with running and building a business. She hopes to run her own business in the future where she explores how technology can be used to further advance medicine, and is excited to use all the experience she gains from this internship in that future endeavor.
Teeda Izadi
St. Andrew's Episcopal School
Class of 2025
Teeda Izadi is a sophomore at St. Andrew's Episcopal school in Potomac, Maryland. Teeda is a high honors student and enrolled in challenging exciting courses.
Teeda enjoys spending time with friends and family, playing the piano, and playing tennis and lacrosse. She is on the tennis and lacrosse team at St. Andrews and is the co-leader of a club called Girls Who Start. GWS teaches girls about worldwide women-owned businesses and inspires young girls to be entrepeneurs themselves. She is also a part of the Middle Eastern Student Association and Babysitting club, and is one of two 10th-grade class representatives in the Student Government Association (SGA) at St. Andrews.
Teeda is very excited to be a part of the Business and Development internship with Leadership Initiatives this year. Not only is she looking forward to helping businesses in Bauchi, Nigeria, but she looks forward to creating new relationships and learning more about business, relations, and leadership. In the future, Teeda aims to also partake in the public health internship as she seeks interest in the medical field as well.
Our Business Partner
Jamila Bitrus
Fast Facts
She sells hair products and styles women’s hair
Mrs. Bitrus is passionate about keeping up with style and fashion trends
Jamila Bitrus
About Jamila
Jamila Bitrus
Community Impact
She currently has one employee working for her, but if she is able to expand that to more people, not only will she be able to help more women looking to get their hair done, but she will be able to give so many more women the opportunity of having stable jobs doing something they love. Stable jobs can sometimes be hard to find in Bauchi, so her business can greatly impact the economy of where she lives.
By running a successful business, Jamila will be able to empower and motivate other young women in her area to start their own businesses. This change can break the cycle of poverty that has been affecting Bauchi State.
Jamila Bitrus
Our Partnership
Our Approach
FINANCIAL TRACKING
Financially literate entrepreneurs make growth-oriented financial and economic decisions for their savings, borrowing, and investments. Our team is working with Isiyaka Sa’ad to create an effective financial tracking system for his business finances, receipts, and daily costs.
OUR ADVERTISING
Our team identified target markets and key demographics to create a customer acquisition plan. We are working with Isiyaka Sa’ad to redesign his 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 Isiyaka Sa’ad and design solutions with grant money to improve his business to foster growth.
Our Fundraising
$950 RAISED
$50 NEEDED
$1000 GOAL
Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced some of the highest growth rates globally over the past 10 years. While this means that people in these nations have become more optimistic about their social and economic future, the region continues to face a myriad of historical 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 implement community-based education programs, pay staff to run the operations on-site, and invest in training for local leaders. 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.
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