Mentoring businesses in Nicaragua

Photo: Courtesy of Agora Partnerships

Hola from Central America!

We at Agora Partnerships in Managua, Nicaragua are very excited about our recent partnership with Mercy Corps' MicroMentor, a service that connects small business owners with volunteer business mentors. As MicroMentor's Central American partner, we are working to promote business mentoring in a society where entrepreneurs are facing tough economic, social, and environmental circumstances - often with little or no support.

Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, and the challenges of running a business can be overwhelming. We believe in the power of small businesses to make positive change, and each mentoring relationship provides invaluable guidance for Nicaraguan entrepreneurs.

In this first post, we'd like to give you a brief update on our accomplishments in 2010:

• Together Agora & MicroMentor secured seed funding from the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs’ Capacity Development Fund, which is designed to catalyze innovations in the small and growing business space and is supported by the Lemelson Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Shell Foundation.
• We worked with MicroMentor to launch their Spanish language website and to develop training materials for entrepreneurs and mentors in Central America.
• We hosted information sessions for over 143 Nicaraguan entrepreneurs and business professionals in Managua.
• We had the pleasure of working with the MicroMentor team in Nicaragua to build partnerships with many innovative, local organizations including Thriive Capital, Chamber of Chambers, Asociacion de Productores y Exportadores de Nicaragua (APEN), TechnoServe, and Centro De Produccion Mas Limpia (CPML). Through these partnerships we are integrating the Nicaragua MicroMentor service into their existing programs.
• To date, we have over 60 mentors and mentees enrolled in the program, with connections and mentoring relationships being facilitated and supported by Agora and MicroMentor staff.

The concept of mentoring (especially free mentoring) is new for many Nicaraguans, but we think the results of current MicroMentor relationships will inspire further use of this innovative service in the coming months. We look forward to a banner year in 2011!

To learn more about Agora Partnerships, please visit www.agorapartnerships.org.

Do you speak Spanish and have business experience? Apply to join the Nicaragua mentoring program as a volunteer mentor.