Univ of Calgary Expands Ember Program for Women Entrepreneurs

• Ember is a business incubator run by students at the University of Calgary
• The program assists underrepresented women in starting businesses
• Ember is looking for more participants for this year’s group

The Ember initiative, a program from Enactus UCalgary, is looking for additional participants as it seeks to support the development of underrepresented women through entrepreneurship with a new cohort launching starting January 3 through March 21,

The programme will include a series of weekly sessions featuring guest industry speakers, hands-on workshops, student mentorship, and interest-free micro-loans to assist with the creation and expansion of women-owned businesses.

“The Ember initiative aims to encourage entrepreneurial growth among women,” said Raneem Elemary, co-lead of the program. “As part of the program, we will conduct 10 sessions with participants that focus on important entrepreneurial skills such as finance, marketing, pitching, and raising funds for their business“.

The goal is for participants to launch their new businesses during or shortly after the completion of the program.

Also, participants will have the opportunity to exhibit their products at both on-campus markets and an off-campus, up-and-coming Calgary market in partnership with a nearby Calgary-based company.

Ember was created 14 years ago and has pivoted from its traditional role into also providing direct support for business launches. Many highly educated women immigrating to Canada find it difficult to leverage their education and end up becoming entrepreneurs; however, they might not know the local business environment.

The Ember program supports participants taking their business ideas from concept to reality by connecting them to local and on-campus resources. According to co-president Crystal Kisakye, Ember is one of the most significant projects for Ember, thanks to student volunteers' dedication to the initiative.

Last year’s participants were primarily women aged 30 years or older with full-time jobs who appreciated the program’s supportive environment. Participants also benefited from language accommodation provided by mentors who spoke their native language to make the program accessible to them.