Future Founders

There is a buzz in the air, tons of energy, echoing the vibrancy of the colourful room. 20 young women and men, all below 25 years of age, are practicing pitching their business ideas, using the opportunity to hone their skills, but also providing feedback on others’ start-up ventures. Guiding them through it all is Aranee Devanandan.

Woven with shared values

Aranee leads the social capital initiative ‘Diriliya’ at Hela Apparel Holdings PLC, a leading apparel company in Sri Lanka. Diriliya focuses on entrepreneurship skills development for its majority women workforce, empowering them to establish their own business ventures, thereby accessing a secondary source of income. It is this synergy between ILO’s ‘Gender and Entrepreneurship Together’ (GET Ahead) training, and Diriliya’s offerings, that drew Aranee to the GET Ahead programme.

Successfully completing a training of trainers in Nepal, Aranee together with Primrose Ranasinghe, and Tharindi Edirisooriya became certified GET Ahead trainers in 2023. Speaking about her training experience, “The 3 of us coming from 3 different backgrounds - corporate, small business owner, and entrepreneurship training consultant- that provided for rich exchanges and learnings,” says Aranee. “The training was extremely comprehensive, with amazing trainers. But beyond that, the method in which the training was conducted proved insightful in many aspects - how to be a good trainer, manage different energy levels of participants, create an encouraging and inclusive learning environment.”

© ILO

© ILO

In selecting potential candidates for the GET Ahead training, careful consideration was given to language competency, skills, background, and strengths in reaching different communities and groups. Individuals were identified from across ILO interventions, including apparel-sector focused Better Work project, youth focused South Asia Leadership in Entrepreneurship (SALE) programme, and a post-covid micro enterprise recovery project. This was to ensure that each of the qualified trainers could conduct training for a diverse range of aspiring entrepreneurs from across the island.

Supported by ILO’s SALE project, Primrose has already successfully completed entrepreneurship training for 50 young vocational trainees in the Matara district. Aranee is conducting training for youth who are either children of Hela employees, or themselves employed at Hela.

A rich tapestry of passion and creativity

Sanjana Prathapa, an industrial engineering executive at Hela, and a participant in the GET Ahead entrepreneurship training led by Aranee, is working towards starting a business producing and selling size 0 lingerie or as she phrases it, lingerie for women with subtle curves. “I already had this business idea, and I’ve done a lot of research and groundwork for it. But this training was a value-addition. It equipped me with know-how to think through my business venture from different aspects, and how I can take it further. The gamified learning method that was followed breaks down complex concepts to accessible knowledge, making it both an informative experience that is also fun,” she says.

© ILO

© ILO

Nisansala Atapattu got to know about the training from her mother who is both an employee at Hela, and an entrepreneur. The training was step one for Nisansala, “I have just completed my advanced level exams and (have) been thinking about starting my own coffee shop, a place that is centered on connections with nature. This training was about laying that foundation, the first step towards beginning my entrepreneurship path.”

Achintha Leswarage, a human resource executive, expresses similar sentiments, “I’ve been toying with the idea of starting a business consultancy firm for a while, but I didn’t know where to start. The training helped me refine my idea and learn how to pitch it effectively to make it relevant”.

Threading together women and entrepreneurship

Gender-based barriers make it challenging for women in particular to find jobs. Young women and girls are often seen in unemployment, underemployment, or economic inactivity. GET Ahead bridges the gender gap in entrepreneurship support by offering women and men the business management and key soft skills they need to start a business. The training programme also has a specific focus on addressing hurdles women face in starting and running a business, including lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, low confidence, and gendered norms and roles that increase the burden of household and care responsibilities.

Entrepreneurship is a great avenue for youth to realize their ambitions. It empowers them to shape and achieve the goals and impacts they envision. Sanjana shares, “My business is built on body positivity and draws from personal experience. It will also have a component of supporting breast cancer survivors. For a lot of young people, starting a business is not just about profits, or delivering a product or a service. We also want to uplift our communities and are always consciously looking for those business and community connections. This is something that programmes designed to support youth entrepreneurship need to consider.”

© ILO

© ILO

Extending beyond job creation and potential for decent work opportunities, entrepreneurship disrupts the status-quo, injecting new thinking, and pre-empting solutions. When combined with the creativity, drive, and skills of young people, it creates a formidable force that can pave the way for reaching the ambitions of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The ILO’s South Asia Leadership in Entrepreneurship Programme (SALE), funded by the US Department of State, aims to boost young people’s transition into the entrepreneurial world and create a shift in the entrepreneurial ecosystem through several strategic interventions. Mobilizing and supporting youth entrepreneurs has great potential for economic growth, employment creation, and solving some of the world’s most urgent challenges.