The Future is Female Mentorship Program Details

We’re excited to announce the launch of the 2021 edition of The Future is Female Mentorship Program. 

On Africa Day 2020, we launched the inaugural edition of The Future is Female Mentorship Program, a complementary Public Relations (PR) and communications program dedicated exclusively to the business development needs of African female tech founders. African female tech founders are often unsupported and overlooked in the male-dominated tech world, and we wanted to empower and support this group. The Future is Female Mentorship Program provides African female tech founders of early-stage startups with PR and communications expertise, knowledge, and insights to help grow their business and gain more visibility to attract customers, investors, and strategic partnerships.

In 2020, we selected Twelve African female founders to participate in the inaugural The Future is Female Mentorship Program, and became members of the Class of 2020. The program was virtual, and we invited mentees to participate in a group master class hosted on Zoom, followed by three online one-hour, one-on-one sessions. We customized the individual sessions with the needs of each mentee and their business development goals. The program is complimentary and led by CMM MD/founder Claudine Moore with participation from CMM team members and corporate partners.

We gave special consideration to start-ups that focus on health, education, finance, agriculture, and sustainability. In addition, start-ups that provide solutions and/or address the needs of African women and girls will also receive special consideration.

Once the mentees completed the program, they owned insights into the fundamentals of PR and communications and an understanding of how to leverage the knowledge acquired during the program to gain visibility, grow their business, and build their brand.

If you are a female-founded African start-up and would like to take part in the 2021 edition of the program, visit the program’s website here for details and see below:

WHO WE’RE LOOKING FOR
We’re interested in resilient, resourceful, and savvy female founders with demonstrated traction in building their tech-enabled business; we require that:

  • The business is less than two years old.
  • You are female-founded or have at least one woman who is part of the co-founder team.
  • Your company is Africa-focused serving African markets or Africans in the Diaspora.
  • The company is an early-stage startup (pre-series A investment).
  • You have a business plan in place.
  • You have a minimum viable product (MVP)
  • Ideally, a functional website
  • You have launched your startup and have initial traction (i.e., money, users, etc.)

While we welcome applications from a vast cross-section of businesses and sectors, startups that focus on health, education, finance, agriculture, and sustainability will be given special consideration. We will also pay special attention to businesses that address the needs/service of African women and girls in African markets or the Diaspora.

What The Future is Female Mentorship Program provides for African female founders?

  • A customized online master class with Claudine Moore MD/Founder, CMM and Adjunct Professor, New York University
  • Insights into the fundamentals of PR and communications for Africa-focused start-ups
  • Practical examples of how to incorporate storytelling into your communications
  • A topline review of The Three T’s: Theme, Tone, and Timing of communications and content creation
  • Information on how to create an actionable communications campaign
  • An overview of media relations with an outline of the differences between the hyper-local, regional and global press
  • COVID Communications: Learn how the media landscape has changed and how this affects your business
  • Tips on business relationship development with a cross-section of stakeholders
  • Three one hour one-on-one mentoring sessions specific to your business and sector

KEY 2021 DATES
The application portal to apply for The Future is Female Mentorship Program will open at noon (WAT) on Monday, June 7, 2021, and close at 11:59 pm (WAT) on Monday, July 5.

We will announce the successful female founders on Monday, July 26.

See Frequently Asked Questions

Follow #CMMtheFutureIsFemale on social media for updates on the program.
Follow @CMooreMedia and @ClaudineMoore on Twitter and Instagram for announcements.