THE third cohort of AccelerateHer saw 18 women-owned and led businesses graduating from the recently concluded programme.
The business model, a brainchild of the Centre for Local Business Development (CLBD), funded by the Greater Guyana Initiative (GGI), continues to push the needle. It is actively promoting gender equality in Guyana’s oil-and-gas industry.

In Guyana, women-owned enterprises were mostly operating in sectors unrelated to oil and gas, such as agriculture and tourism. This observation gave way to the creation of the programme, which aims to build the leadership and business skills of women entrepreneurs.
Launched in 2021, AccelerateHer was designed to enable the growth of small businesses through tailored workshops, access to one-on-one business advisory services, mentoring, pitch development and supportive peer-learning environment. Additionally, it seeks out motivated women entrepreneurs, who recognise the value and importance of an interactive and collaborative approach to grow their business acumen and entrepreneurial skills.

AccelerateHer has attracted women from a wide variety of sectors. Outside of refining their businesses, participants have learnt the importance of building better systems and mapping out future developments, taking advantage of opportunities offered, and understanding their market – all practices implemented to propel their businesses forward.
“We can now pitch our business in any room because of the powerful business model that we’ve learnt. The concept here at the Centre was impactful and it’s now for us to go out there and make the world a better place,” said Sophia Dolphin, founder of Glo-See Marketing and Public Relations and 2024 AccelerateHer graduate.

The serial entrepreneur described her four-month journey with the programme as an impactful one. Elated, she expressed that being a part of the mentee/mentor programme has helped her company better position itself to attract clients.
Echoing similar sentiments was Collina Johnson, founder of CollieBlack Hair Designs who said that while it took a lot physically, mentally and financially to complete the AccelerateHer programme, it was a great accomplishment. Johnson said one of her main take-aways was being better able to scale her business. “There are a lot of things I really did not know, like the business canvas. I had no particular structure to which my business was executed. After the programme everything is much more structured, I understand my market and I know how to do market research. The capacity building as well as the networking, those were my key take-aways from this AccelerateHer training,” Johnson said.

Since its inception, the programme has expanded, seeing a total of 67 graduates to date. Its existence has impacted the success stories of many women-owned businesses.
How does the Centre achieve this success with the AccelerateHer participants? This is done by approaching the programme in two phases. In phase one, the ‘Weekend Bootcamp’, participants engage in group sessions and take-home activities, subsequently leading to the selection process. In phase two, the programme combines one-on-one and in-person classroom mentorship, where participants are then matched to a mentor and specific programmes based on their business’ needs to build capacity in those areas. A part of phase two is called the ‘Demo Day,’ when participants conduct a presentation of their refined business pitches to members of the business community.

The Centre continues to serve as a hub for both local and international companies looking to seize expanding opportunities within Guyana’s diverse energy and non-energy sectors. During his recent address at the National Assembly, President Dr. Irfaan Ali disclosed that small- and medium-sized local enterprises have raked in more than US$2 billion since the passage of the Local Content Act.

The Centre, through the AccelerateHer programme, continues to play a critical role in achieving the goals of the Local Content Act by helping Guyanese entrepreneurs benefit from the country’s growing economic opportunities. Through the Centre’s trainings and skills-building sessions, an increasing number of women are being upskilled to foster greater economic growth. This is evident in the testimonies of the beneficiaries, reiterating the positive impact the programme has had on their businesses.