Özyegin University Graduates Its First Women Entrepreneurs

The 10,000 Woman Entrepreneurs Certificate Program run by Özyegin University in collaboration with Goldman Sachs has produced its first graduates. The first 29 woman entrepreneurs received their certificates from Hüsnü Özyegin, the Chair of Özyegin University’s Board of Trustees, and Prof. Dr. Ali Beba, the Academic Director of Özyegin University’s Center for Entrepreneurship, with a ceremony held at Cemile Sultan Grove on 15 July 2010.

Within the scope of the  10,000 Women project launched by Goldman Sachs in 2008, targeting to provide entrepreneurship training to 10.000 women around the world within 5 years, Özyegin University will deliver free of charge entrepreneurship training to 85 women this year and a total of 340 women over a period of three years.  Implemented in 20 countries around the world with a budget of USD 100 million, the program aims to enhance women’s entrepreneurial and managerial skills in developing countries and support equitable and sustainable economic development by reducing gender inequality. The Turkish leg of 10.000 Women project executed by Özyeğin University’s Center for Entrepreneurship was honored as model practice in all its application stages, especially with its selection and evaluation process, and marked its name among 20 countries running the program.

Rendering a speech during the certificate ceremony, Hüsnü Özyegin, the Chair of Özyegin University’s Board of Trustees, highlighted that as Özyegin University, they attach utmost importance to programs that contribute to the development of entrepreneurship culture in Turkey and that development of woman entrepreneurship constitutes a key factor for the economic growth of Turkey. Özyegin continued: “Through the “10,000 Woman Entrepreneurs Certificate Program”, we aim to reach more than 300 women and help them become successful entrepreneurs and contribute to their economic growth. Having met our woman entrepreneurs today, I see that they have the necessary enthusiasm and resolution to become successful entrepreneurs. I fully believe that, with the training they have acquired in this program, they will pursue their entrepreneurial initiatives as more equipped and more powerful than ever.”
 
Taking the floor, Prof. Dr. Ali Beba, the Academic Director of Özyegin University’s Center for Entrepreneurship, said: “Following a 3-month intensive training, we now see our woman entrepreneurs as “global” entrepreneurs who can easily do business anywhere around the world, rather than “local” entrepreneurs. Our woman entrepreneurs work in service sectors such as industry, manufacturing, media and public relations and most of them have already started to award business deals and create new businesses even though their training was not finished yet.