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Karine had never given much thought to starting her own business. But once she joined a Plan International program in Brazil called Bridges to the Future, which helps young people learn about entrepreneurship, the wheels started turning.

After she joined the Plan program, she couldn’t help but notice that most of the terms used by entrepreneurs in Brazil were in English. She saw this as a barrier for people who only speak local languages. Then she started thinking about ways to connect with other young people who can’t access information about innovation or business. That’s when she worked out the concept for her business, Wakanda.

Wakanda is an entrepreneurial education company with training courses designed for a diverse range of audiences. Before receiving any investment, Wakanda had already developed its first product: a set of three 8-hour training courses to assist entrepreneurs in need. In total, 12 women completed the course, of which six are still part of the Wakanda community today.

Now, the company offers an even wider range of courses and has helped hundreds of young entrepreneurs over the years.

“We are a business with social impact, which has this social character of leaving a positive mark on society,” Karine says.

At the end of 2020, Wakanda took Karine all the way to Shark Tank Brazil — and she left with a new partner, Rio de Janeiro businesswoman Camila Farani. Farani also committed herself to investing in the best projects developed by entrepreneurs who use Wakanda.

Karine even went on to be named one of the most outstanding young entrepreneurs in Brazil by Forbes Magazine. And they put her on the cover.

For Karine, the most important part of this experience was showing Brazilians that there is another way to talk about business — using informal and accessible language.

“For me, that was great because some people in the entrepreneurship world were still very reluctant to understand this new way of talking about entrepreneurship,” she says. “To be on the cover of Forbes Magazine was to prove that this way is not only important, but necessary.”

For girls interested in following in her footsteps, Karine says that many women and girls are already entrepreneurs. They just don’t recognize themselves as such.

“Women, and especially Black women, have always been entrepreneurs out of necessity,” she says. “But the language of entrepreneurship drives people away and crystallizes [in] the figure of a white man in a suit and tie.”

When the world invests in girls, real changes happens. Thank you for helping a young entrepreneur like Karine follow her dreams.

For many children around the world, war in their backyard is the norm.

Their lives are put on hold while their families try to simply survive. And during this time, girls can lose the chance to learn skills for their futures, as uncertain as they may be.

In Cameroon, Yeluma got to know this situation well. Her life was turned upside down after armed conflict between the southwest and northwest regions began in 2016. Without school, a place she loved dearly, her dream of becoming a doctor was crushed.

Pillaging in her village was common, but one day was especially devastating. As the community’s houses were looted and burned, Yeluma and her family fled into the surrounding bushes to hide, but instead got separated amid the chaos.

“The bushes became the safest place for me,” Yeluma says. “I stayed there for weeks. Sadly, I could not find any of my family members. That is my reality.”

But even in the bushes, Yeluma faced constant harassment from others. Without her family’s support, and conditions in the bushes worsening every day, she decided to escape to the city in northwest Cameroon.

When she arrived, Yeluma received counselling from social workers and joined a youth group at a child-friendly learning center, as part of Plan's emergency response work. She was able to take part in recreational activities and attend life skills sessions specifically designed for adolescents on topics including sexual and reproductive health.

Though the pain of losing her family lingered, Yeluma rediscovered her strength and eagerness to learn. She took up beadwork and learned how to make traditional African bracelets. While schools were still closed due to the ongoing conflict, Plan offered her the opportunity to enroll at a vocational training center to increase her knowledge and skills.

After graduating from the course, she was provided with the tools and materials she needed to start her own business, and she has since become an expert in her field. She makes beaded goods at her home and sells them throughout her community. She also exhibits her work at special sales events and even built up a regular client list.

Going forward, Yeluma hopes to raise enough money to open up her own workshop in the city and train more girls to become bead-makers.

“I am very grateful for everything done by the project,” Yeluma says. “I was constantly advised to get married to survive the hardship of the crisis, but the positive changes in my life and the learnings from the child-friendly space have brought me hope for a better future.”

Yeluma’s life has changed course so many times, and she’s experienced intense struggles. With the support of those who believe in her, and the skills and knowledge she’s gained, she can carve her own path. Her future is hers.