USA: Malika Okeyo, a former student of Matuu HGM Memorial Girls High School – Machakos District, has been accepted into the Entrepreneurship for the Public Good (EPG) programme at Berea College in Kentucky, USA.
Malika Okeyo, a rising sophomore, is one of 20 students selected this year as members of the 12th Cohort of EPG. 533
The EPG programme, which began in 2002, creates a multi-year social entrepreneurship experience and requires a two-summer commitment from all accepted applicants. Over the years, it has been adapted to meet changing social needs and to fit the evolving dynamics of times. Since its inception, the EPG programme has successfully churned out more than 150 fellows.
In the first summer, members of the cohort develop six core entrepreneurial leadership abilities namely “engaging complexity and uncertainty, exploring values and ethical structure, facilitating group decisions, recognizing opportunity, mobilizing resources, and advocating change.”
This is developed through various classroom lessons and direct experiences in Appalachian communities for 8 weeks, which prepares them for the second summer where they fully utilize these abilities for approximately 10 weeks in Directed Field Experiences designed to yield utmost benefits to each student. After the first summer, each member of the cohort is awarded a $3,000 stipend and further support – advisory and financial – is provided for the second summer.
Participants are always exposed to; conversations with county officials and civic leaders, intercept interviews and surveys with local businesses and TransAmerican tourists, first hand history of the Appalachian region, exploration of the natural resources in Kentucky through rock-climbing, kayaking, biking, and hiking.
A highly elated Ms Okeyo could not hide her joy at the opportunity to participate in the programme. “I am excited about this program because it affords me the opportunity to work with some of the brilliant minds in the world. Moreover, I am confident that by the end of it all, I will have learned highly relevant and transferable skills that will equip me to make positive contributions to the development of Kenya and to the people I get an opportunity to serve,” she said.
