Women’s empowerment and inclusion are critical to the economic and political transitions currently taking place in Egypt and elsewhere in the Middle East. Specialized training programs such as the 10,000 Women program at the American University in Cairo (AUC) are important components of what must be a broader effort to enhance the ability of women in the region to achieve their potential and contribute fully to the social and economic development of their societies.

Members of the first “post-revolutionary” cohort of the 10,000 Women program.

10,000 Women is a five-year investment by Goldman Sachs to provide 10,000 underserved women around the world with a business and management education. The Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program is currently operating in 22 countries around the world. Globally, more than half of 10,000 Women graduates have added jobs and nearly 70 percent have grown their businesses. 4,100 women have completed the program to date globally, and 5,500 are expected to have completed the program by the end of 2011. Egypt is the flagship country for the program in the Middle East.

The 10,000 Women program at AUC focuses on professional leadership management and entrepreneurial skills including accounting, marketing, accessing capital, negotiation, communication, operations management, strategic planning, human resource management, and writing a business plan. The curriculum was developed by AUC in collaboration with The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and culminates with a business plan competition and a business exhibition. Throughout the program, scholars work with AUC faculty to develop business plans to guide future growth. In addition, AUC works closely with the Social Fund for Development in Egypt to provide qualified graduates with business loans.

Nearly 1,000 applications were received for the program. Graduates come from Jordan, the West Bank and 15 different governorates of Egypt. The graduates operate businesses in a diverse group of industries including manufacturing, retail, handicrafts, education, agriculture, textiles and health. To date, 200 women have completed the program in Egypt.

Eman Abdel Aziz credits the WEL program with giving her skills to develop a strategic plan for a family-owned business that imports medical equipment into Egypt. “I was challenged with business decisions on the strategic and operational level every day,” she notes, adding that she struggled to determine the right course of action. Her studies have led her to analyze her company’s competitive advantages as the foundation for an action plan that she hopes to implement.

Azza El Sabrouty also found help to face challenges to the success of her art and interior design business in Alexandria. With a background in the arts, she has been able to give a “modern twist” to the art that she sees on trips to Upper Egypt. But too often, she discovered that her ideas were stolen, and she lacked a marketing strategy to make her business grow. Through 10,000 Women, she learned about copyright protection, strategic marketing, operations management, and others areas that will be useful to her growing business.

Like many entrepreneurs, Rasha Atta spotted a market opportunity and opened a business to meet it. As small- and mid-sized super markets in Cairo computerized their sales and inventories, she noticed that they often failed to realize the full promise of the new systems because they lacked essential complementary hardware. Her company provides scanners, barcode machines, stickers, paper, and other products that help them realize these efficiencies. Atta says that 10,000 Women taught her how to be “a better manager with a better vision.” It also opened her eyes to other ways of being more competitive, whether by successfully negotiating with suppliers to reduce her costs or developing a strategy that will enable her to expand into markets outside Cairo.

These young women are part of a growing network of confident female professionals who will play an important role in mentoring and assisting others like them. As May El Abd, owner of a furniture manufacturing startup in Cairo, attests, “You go there and you start listening to success stories … The group gives you a large amount of positive energy.”

AMIDEAST is assisting 10,000 Women with recruitment and selection of qualified candidates. Last year, it helped identify 100 women from Egypt, Jordan, and the West Bank who received their training during 2010. Another round just ended with the selection of 34 Egyptian women to make up the first “post-revolutionary” cohort. These women, who are from a variety of industries including textiles and clothing, food and beverages, and education and training services, are beginning their training this summer.