This was made possible through the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which has awarded a grant to host South African entrepreneurs over a two-year period. Under the terms of the grant, the Northern Nevada International Center (NNIC) will collaborate with Sierra Nevada College (SNC), Evo Media, the DAD Fund and the South African government to provide US-based internships for a minimum of 25 competitively selected young entrepreneurs (ages 25-35) from South Africa.
Over the next five weeks, the young entrepreneurs will spend time with local businesses in such fields as resort and hospitality management, fashion design, waste management and environmentally sustainable recycling, information technology, and geographical information systems. One US firm has already agreed to allow one of the South Africans to serve as their distributor of non-proprietary software.
In addition, each of the young entrepreneurs will complete a Certificate in Entrepreneurship at Sierra Nevada College, earning nine university credits. The South African interns will have the opportunity to work with Sierra Nevada College faculty, local businesses and present their own business plans to a panel of venture capitalists for comment and potential investment.
YEP aims to expose both South Africans and US businesses to entrepreneurship in the international workplace. Additionally, a select number of American internship mentors will travel to South Africa in September for a 10-day trip to reunite with their interns and learn about the South African business environment. The program hopes to increase the understanding of the links between entrepreneurial activity and free markets and the importance of transparency and accountability of business and government, while helping the selected young entrepreneurs start their own businesses.
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