Go-Woman! Alliance Europe, (GWAEU) utilises its expertise in the field of social innovation and support individuals to develop confidence and empowers them to thrive.
GWAEU strategic leadership have vast experience in working in European projects, through our sister company Go-Woman! Alliance CIC, where they have shared good practices, including participating in projects looking at barriers to employment for ‘hard-to-reach’ groups, including women. They have also been specifically involved in creating tools to support these groups to overcome the unique and individual barriers they face, from Leonardo and Grundtvig programmes, to ErasmusPlus projects.
Yasmin Akhtar
The founder of Go-Woman Alliance Europe, (GWAEU), Yasmin has been working in area of social innovation, community enterprise and teaching entrepreneurs for ethnic groups for over 20 years and is a recognised expert in social business planning and entrepreneurship with extensive links to HEI and VET providers in the UK and further across Europe. Yasmin has also been involved in European projects for over 10 years.
GWAEU are exceptionally well connected. For example, from 2002 until 2012 Yasmin held the position of Chief Executive and oversaw the work of the forward thinking, Asian-e Foundation in Birmingham. The Asian-e Foundation, a not for profit making organisation, focused on working at grass root level to deliver frameworks which address social exclusion and increase innovation amongst minority ethnic communities. In the course of her work with this foundation, Yasmin had the opportunity to work closely with the London Development Agency and the West Yorkshire Learning and Skills Council and was instrumental in the development and delivery of the Foundation’s flagship programme, the ‘Women in Enterprise’ framework which specifically addressed issues concerning women (particularly from South Asian community) to start up and grow their businesses. The ‘Women in Enterprise’ framework was awarded the PROWESS Innovator award in 2004 and attracted attention as far afield as Malaysia. (PROWESS is a UK-wide advocacy network that supports the growth of women’s business ownership).
Yasmin develops and delivers projects that involve working with individuals from ethnic minority communities, supporting language development as a central focal point. These individuals are then supported to develop key skills in their area of interest whether that is business support, work readiness or self-employment.
In 2014, Yasmin developed a training programme titled ‘Preparation for Work’, accredited by Open College Network West Midlands Region (OCNWMR) at Level 1. The programme supported women wishing to get into employment with a flexible programme allowed them to work around their childcare responsibilities whilst developing essential skills to get into meaningful employment delivered through community settings.