The Western Union Foundation is proud to celebrate 51 social entrepreneurs whose participation in this year’s Fellowship is helping to further their community impact. This year’s program incorporated 4+ months of intensive training to advance ventures that support highly marginalized, refugee, and forcibly displaced communities around the world.
The Western Union Foundation Fellowship program is designed to complement early-stage entrepreneurs so that they can advance their existing ventures. This year’s participants represent 11 different countries including Uganda, Pakistan, Mexico, Colombia, the United States, Kenya, Argentina, India, Nigeria, Brazil, and the Philippines.
The Western Union Foundation Fellowship was launched in partnership with Watson Institute in 2021. Now in its fourth year, the Fellowship has supported 171 burgeoning entrepreneurs to date. The positive impact of each Western Union Foundation Fellow is further amplified at the conclusion of the program when they host a Basecamp in their respective communities. These Basecamps have now reached more than 6,600 people by allowing the Fellows to impart their learnings to groups of emerging leaders who ideate solutions together for their communities.
The Fellowship is gaining in popularity with more than 2,900 applicants for 51 spots this year. The caliber of entrepreneurs selected for this Fellowship and the impact they have the potential to make is transformational. Here are just two examples from the 2024 cohort:
- Adrianna Pinzariu is the Founder of SKIIP, a venture designed to detect and flag potential human trafficking activities at hotel sites using machine learning and algorithms. SKIIP’s primary AI models show an accuracy rate of 90% and its initial tests have flagged over 50 potential cases of human trafficking.
- Rebecca Aime is the Founder of Patapia, a venture dedicated to empowering refugee women by providing low-interest micro-credit, mobile banking access, tailored business training, and community support systems. Since its inception in 2020, Patapia has trained over 1,500 refugee women in Uganda, financing 1,000 of them to start businesses. The average monthly revenue for these women has increased from $14 to $100, enabling 95% to provide for their families without relying on aid.
The Western Union Foundation is proud to support the inspiring changemakers whose ventures remove systemic barriers and create more enabling environments for underserved populations across the world. Click here to donate to the Western Union Foundation and support even more aspiring individuals who are changing lives through programs like the Fellowship.
