Support for Womens Education

A helping hand for women
By Ben White

Published: March 9 2008 17:04 Last updated: March 9 2008 17:04

When Iman Youssry, a 27-year-old Egyptian furniture designer, needs help finishing a customer’s order, she often calls her friends. And they call their friends. Anyone who can spare the time turns up to help get the work done.

Often it is not enough and deliveries are late, a problem Ms Youssry finds deeply embarrassing. Her marketing efforts are similarly rudimentary. She has no real cash management system and no website to display her work, which includes tables, small wooden crafts, candle holders, coasters and other items.

“I just have so many problems and challenges trying to run my business,” said Ms Youssry, a softly spoken fine arts graduate of Helwan University in Cairo.

To upgrade her management and marketing skills, Ms Youssry will be the first participant in 10,000 Women, a major philanthropic effort announced last week by Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment bank.

Goldman committed an initial $100m to the programme, among the bank’s largest ever single grants. The money will help fund mostly short-term, pragmatic certificate programmes designed at upgrading business skills of 10,000 women over five years in emerging and developing countries.

Ms Youssry, for instance, will attend a five-week course at American University in Cairo to improve her basic business skills.