EMPOWER women’s entrepreneurship programme commences
EMPOWER Start, the women’s entrepreneurship programme, commenced full online delivery this month through iHubs across the campuses of the Connacht Ulster Alliance (CUA) of GMIT, IT Sligo and Letterkenny IT.
Co-funded by the government and European Social Fund, the first ever EMPOWER Start programme ran in GMIT’s Innovation Hubs in October 2017 for women in Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. Such was its success that applications were extended to the northwest counties of Sligo, Donegal and Leitrim earlier this year (2020).
Maria Staunton, manager of the GMIT iHub in Mayo and EMPOWER coordinator for the region, says: “The formation of the Connacht-Ulster Alliance (CUA) allowed this to become a reality and we look forward to even more exciting opportunities the planned-for Technological University (TU) will bring to the region, as the CUA partners work on completing their formal submission to Minister Harris, seeking approval to become a TU.
“We received a lot of enquiries from people in the northwest due to the success of the first two cycles that had already been run in the west, so EMPOWER II was then extended to the wider region. This will, no doubt, be one of many programmes promoting and supporting businesses and startups in the region.”
Separately, GMIT has announced that Sandra Divilly Nolan, manager of the GMIT iHub EMPOWER Programme, has been appointed to the board of the Western Development Commission (WDC).
Said Ms. Staunton: “We are delighted at the GMIT iHubs to see Sandra appointed onto the WDC board. GMIT is always very supportive of the important work the WDC carry out, especially in terms of balanced regional economic development, investment funding and remote working.”
Sandra Divilly Nolan, BEng, MBA, is an entrepreneur with over 20 years business experience. Following an initial career as an engineer, she acquired her first fashion retail business in 2000 and established a second business in 2002. In 2005 both businesses were finalists in the SFA National Awards for 'Achievement, Innovation and Excellence in Small Business'. In 2010 Sandra set up an e-commerce business which she ran for 10 years, gaining access to a global marketplace.
In May 2020, Sandra joined the team at the GMIT Innovation Hub as EMPOWER programme manager, promoting female entrepreneurship and supporting these entrepreneurs to start, grow and scale their businesses.
She said: “The remit of the WDC is to foster and encourage economic and social development in the western region. Within the GMIT iHubs there is a wealth of knowledge to address the challenges and opportunities facing entrepreneurs in the region.”