Strathmore University Business School Awarded $3,200,000 Grant to Work with Catholic Sisters in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia

Strathmore University Business School (SBS) has been awarded a grant of USD 3,200,000 by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation effective 1st December 2021, which will run over a period of three years. The purpose of this grant is to transform social ministries owned and managed by Catholic sisters into sustainable social enterprises.

The project will be implemented in four countries; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia and will work with various Catholic sisters’ congregations from the Association of Consecrated Women in Eastern and Central Africa (ACWECA), who in their role as trusted servant leaders in communities play a critical role in supporting the most vulnerable groups in our societies.

The broad areas of focus will include social enterprise development, individual and institutional capacity building, and establishing collaborative networks. In addition, the grant will also provide an opportunity to conduct research,design,develop and incorporate innovative social entrepreneurship models and platforms (an incubator/accelerator, seed grant and a financial inclusion facility) that will support the transformation of the sisters’ social entrepreneurship towards sustainability.

In living up to its mission “Service to society through developing virtuous leaders by providing world-class executive management education in a local setting”, SBS will offer appropriate training, coaching, and mentoring, and opportunity to conduct research aimed at developing and bridging identified gaps in social entrepreneurship and leadership capacities of sisters as social entrepreneurship leaders.

This grant award follows a recent baseline survey project commissioned and funded by Conrad N. Hilton Foundation in early 2021 which was conducted in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia by the SBS team. The survey explored the challenges that Catholic sisters face in their ministries in various transformative works that they are involved in as they serve humanity. Some of the challenges established by the study include reduced donor funds, lack of adequate leadership skills and capacities, inadequate financial and organizational sustainability measures etc. The findings of the initial baseline survey informed the project design and implementation of the now funded project.

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