A N E X T G E N E R A T I O N M O D E L

{ R E V O L U T I O N I Z I N G N O N - P R O F I T D E V E L O P M E N T }

EMPOWERING WOMEN TO BECOME AGENTS OF TRANSFORMATION

UGANDA / DALLAS

The Akola journey began with a 10 minute meeting that changed my life. In 2004, I was moved to compassion as a sophomore in college after meeting a Ugandan woman named Sarah who cared for 24 street children in her home. Compassion escalated to action as I founded an organization to construct an orphanage home to house children who slept on Sarah’s floor.

InIn 2006, we began the construction of the orphanage and the drilling of over 20 water wells throughout the country. As we traveled to different villages, we were amazed by women who cared for 10+ children in their homes. Like Sarah, they had a hope and vision for their families; they simply did not have the income or confidence to embrace their calling. After completing the orphanage, we discovered that by training and employing 250 women and guaranteeing them a monthly income we could care for 2,500 children, without the construction of an orphanage home.

InIn 2007, we launched a new sustainable model to uplift women and children. The women named it ‘Akola,’ which means ‘to work’ in their local dialect. In 2010, I moved from Uganda to the US get my master’s degree in Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. After 5 years in the field, I worked with the best development practitioners in the country to develop a sustainable impact model for women. The work paid off. Over the last 7 years, Akola Project has blossomed into a thriving social business that has impacted 2,750 women and children in extreme poverty.

ThanksThanks to incredible efforts from our teams in Uganda and the US, Akola is poised to grow our impact significantly through our development projects and the success of our Akola product line that will launch through a national department store in 2015. We launched Akola Dallas in 2014 to offer an economic alternative to sex trafficking victims through business training and employment at our US distribution center.

II am excited to share our model that has become a platform to inspire a generation of social entrepreneurs to deliver the highest level of impact to transform the lives of women and children in poverty. Our goal is to encourage new thinking about international development and to inspire the next generation of social innovators.

Thank you for joining us on this journey.

With gratitude,

Brittany Merrill UnderwoodBrittany Merrill UnderwoodBrittany Merrill UnderwoodAkola Project, Founder & President

A N I N N O V A T I V E S O L U T I O N{ F O R C H I L D R E N I N P O V E R T Y }

250 WOMEN / 6 COMMUNITIES / 2,500 LIVES

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AKOLA IMPACT

The Akola model was developed as a pathway to equip women with business skills, leadership development, and earned income to create successful local businesses to lift their families out of poverty. The model begins with community development and ends with long term sustainability. COMMUNITCOMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE: Before training and employment take place, Akola builds the infrastructure for economic opportunity in the rural partner communities. This includes the construction of water wells, vocational training centers and roads. Akola centers provide a place for Akola women to work, become vehicles to launch holistic programming and help women gain respect in their villages. VVOCATIONAL TRAINING: Akola teams work with local church and community leaders to identify women with the greatest need - women who have a great number of dependents, who lack education and mainstream vocational skills. Through dedicated training, Akola provides marginalized women with confidence and dignity as they learn to make products that sell in the global marketplace. FFASHIONABLE PRODUCTS: Akola creates unique high-quality products designed to compete with for-profit brands that retail across four distribution channels. 100% of profits from Akola products fund our beneficiary wages and cover the operating costs of the non-profit. DEPENDABLEDEPENDABLE EMPLOYMENT: Akola provides dependable employment through product manufacturing, inventory management, fulfillment and customer service. Akola women can rely on a dependable salary to budget for their families, send their children to school, meet their medical needs and invest in secure homes. FINANCIAFINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP: As women generate Akola income, Akola facilitates savings and loans associations where women to save from 10-30% of their Akola earned income. LASTING SUSLASTING SUSTAINABILITY: Akola achieves sustainability in the partner communities and within the non-profit organization. Akola women use their savings to start local businesses in their communities to create long term sustainability for their families. As an organization, Akola’s social business helps our non-profit remain financially sustainable and scalable.

*The model and impact are modified for Akola Dallas projects.

S U S T A I N A B L E D E V E L O P M E N T{ T H E M O D E L }

C O M M U N I T Y I N F R A S T R U C T U R E 23 Water Wells2 Vocational Training Centers

F I N A N C I A L S T E W A R D S H I P Women save from 10-30% of their Akola earned income in their villaged based savings and loans groups.

V O C A T I O N A L T R A I N I N G 250 women who lack education &vocational skills are trained.

D E P E N D A B L E E M P L O Y M E N T Akola women earn 4x the living wage in rural Uganda.

L A S T I N G S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y 63 Women have launched local businesses70% of operating budget covered by Akola

product sales.

F A S H I O N A B L E P R O D U C T S Sold in 350 high-end boutiques nationwide.Launching in a national department store in 2015.

The Akola model has been featured on national and international media including CNN, Fox Small Business, Entrepreneur.com and the Katie Show with Katie Couric. The model is featured in a McGraw-Hill textbook and will be taught at Southern Methodist University in Spring 2015.

MODEL OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

A K O L A M O D E L

250 WOMEN / 6 COMMUNITIES / 2,500 LIVES

A K O L A : (verb) to work

Women in the program named the project “to work” in their local Ugandan dialect.

They feel that dignified work is a gift from God and one of their greatest blessings.

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Akola employs a holistic development model to equip women to transform the lives of their families and communities. At Akola, the impact far transcends economic outcomes.

ThroughThrough the programs, Akola women experi-ence personal transformation that equips them to become agents of transformation in their communities.

T R A N S F O R M A T I O N

E C O N O M I C E M P O W E R M E N T

P E R S O N A L T R A N S F O R M A T I O N

ACCESS TO RELIABLE

SOURCE OF CAPITAL

AFFORDS SCHOOL

FEESPROVIDESHEALTHY DIET FOR FAMILY

PURCHASESSECURE HOME

INFUSES CAPITAL

INTO LOCAL BUSINESSESPROVIDES

LOANS TO NEIGHBORS

IN NEED

SAVES CAPITAL

FOR FUTURE NEEDS

LAUNCHESLOCAL

BUSINESS

LEARNSMARKETABLE

SKILLS

GAINSRESPECT IN

COMMUNITY

HAS SOMETHING

TO OFFER

EXPERIENCESGREATER

SELF-ESTEEM

ABLE TO SUSTAINABLY PROVIDE FOR HER FAMILY

BECOMES A MODEL FOR HER

CHILDREN

EMPOWEREDTO VOICE

HER OPINION

INCREASESCONFIDENCE

Through their earned income, new skills and leadership development, Akola women are giving back to their communities by meeting the needs of neighbors and disadvantaged family members.

TheyThey are agents of change in their communities, and they are passing down their work ethic and values generationally.

As women learn valuable skills, they see them-selves as valuable, worthy and able. Women and families living in poverty begin to have hope for a better future.

Akola women have ambitions to uplift their families and end the cycle of generational pov-erty. Akola project helps them meet their goals through dependable training and employment opportunities.

C O M M U N I T Y T R A N S F O R M A T I O N

R E S U R G E N C E O F H O P E

ACHEIVESPERSONALGOALS

DEEPERKNOWLEDGE

OF GOD

PLANS FORTHE FUTURE

CHANGEIN VALUES

EMERGENCEOF HOPE

TRUSTSGOD AS

PROVIDER

RESTOREDHUMANDIGNITY

EXPERIENCESSPIRITUALGROWTH

EXPERIENCESCOMMUNITY

EXPERIENCESTRIBAL

RECONCILIATION

TRAINS &SUPERVISES

PEERS

LEADSCOMMUNITY

EVENTS

BECOMESAGENT OF CHANGE

SUPPORTSNEIGHBORS

IN NEED

CARES FOREXTENDED

FAMILY

CARES FOR DISADVANTAGED

CHILDREN

AKOLA IMPACT

Yangi Hellen moved to Southern Uganda to escape government-run internally displaced camps after 20 years of civil war that claimed the lives of her family members and decimated her community. Now, at age 50, Hellen is employed by Akola Project and is hopeful for her family’s future.

Hellen says that working with Akola Project “is good for me because I can

leave struggles at home and enjoy my work. It makes me feel free.”

Hellen joinedHellen joined Akola in 2010 and has learned her value as a child of God and an agent of change in her community. Through vocational training, dependable employment and savings and loans programs, Hellen has become a dignified leader in Akola and her community.

HellenHellen has used her Akola income to send all of her children to primary and secondary school, to provide a healthy diet for her family, a secure home and to cover her family’s medical needs. Through the Akola Project, Hellen saved enough money to invest in a poultry business that she later sold to send her daughter to university - a major accomplishment for a rural, Ugandan woman!

In 2012, Hellen was promoted toIn 2012, Hellen was promoted to Akola Supervisor and now trains women entering the Akola program. She also leads weekly ministry and fellowship gatherings for hundreds of new Akola women.

Through the Akola Project, Hellen is equipped to provide for her family for generations to come.

A S U C C E S S S T O R Y { Y A N G I H E L L E N }

250 WOMEN / 6 COMMUNITIES / 2,500 LIVES

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AKOLA IMPACT

D E V E L O P M E N T P R O G R A M S{ H O L I S T I C I M P A C T }

AkolaAkola holistically rehabilitates women in poverty through our robust development programs in ministry, wellness, health, business, financial literacy and leadership devel-opment. Akola invests in bricks and mortar projects including vocational centers, roads and water wells in our partner communities in Uganda.

Akola relies on donations to fund our holistic programs and bricks and mortar projects.

S O C I A L B U S I N E S S{ E C O N O M I C I M P A C T }

High-endHigh-end fashion products made by the women of the Akola Project are a vehicle to teach the women basic business and vocational skills. Akola products provide dependable employment for over 250 women.

Akola product sales revenues cover 100% of Akola’s non-profit operating budget and all beneficiary wages.

I M P A C T I N V E S T I N G { { T O S C A L E }

In 2014, Akola received its first impact investment to scale product production in response to growing demand. Impact investing supports Akola’s growth and allows us to impact more women, children and communities.

ImpactImpact investing ensures that not a single donated dollar goes to growing Akola’s social business and product line.

A B R E A K T H R O U G H F U S I O N { N O N - P R O F I T S O C I A L B U S I N E S S }

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250 WOMEN / 6 COMMUNITIES / 2,500 LIVES

Akola is committed to empowering women in extreme poverty who do not have access to education, vocational training or dependable employment opportunities. Akola operates in 5 rural villages across Uganda to serve over 250 women. In 2014, Akola launched a domestic training and employment program in Dallas Texas in partnership with New Friends, New Life.

DALLAS || sexually trafficked. little education. no mainstream vocational skills. limited employment opportunities.

UGANDA || rural poverty. affected by HIV/Aids and 20 years of civil war survivors. displaced. widowed. under-educated.

O U R D E S I R E { T O U P L I F T T H E M O S T M A R G I N A L I Z E D W O M E N I N T H E W O R L D }

D O M E S T I C & I N T E R N A T I O N A L{ U G A N D A & D A L L A S I M P A C T }

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To empower marginalized women to transform the physcial and spiritual livelihoods of their families and communities through eco-nomic developement.

SCALING EMPLOYMENT & PRODUCTION

Impact investments catalyze growth of the social business, scaling employment, and impact opportunities while meeting the increases in Akola product demand.

IMPACT INVESTMENTS

DOMESTIC EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMSINTERNATIONAL EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMS& BRICK AND MORTAR PROJECTS

BENEFICIARY WAGESPRODUCT PRODUCTIONPRODUCT DISTRIBUTION

Akola product sales revenues cover our beneficiary wages and operating costs, which enables Akola to put 100% of our donor dollars to empowerment, ministry, and wellness programs as well as brick and mortar projects in Uganda.

Donations fund Akola’s domestic and international empowerment, ministry and wellness programs that operate in conjunction with the economic development initiatives of the social business to holistically care for the beneficiaries.

DONATIONS

AKOLA PRODUCT SALES REVENUE

1 0 0 % T R A N S P A R E N C Y { D O N A T I O N S + S A L E S }

Akola values engaging the Akola beneficiaries in every process including needs assessment and program development. We train the women to come up with their own metrics for monitoring and evaluating the success of their programs. This process further empowers the women to be agents of change in their communities.

P L A{ P A R T I C I P A T O R Y

L E A R N I N G & A C T I O N }

Annual Goal Setting: Each year Akola women define a personal development goal and establish a strategy for achieving it. Women are supported in their goal pursuit through quarterly reviews and applicable education programs such as small business management seminars.

provider enterprising appreciative happy independent community hopeless vulnerable abuse / fear

58 %

66%70%

60%

72%

51%

91%

81%

63%

FULL TIME MEMBERS OF AKOLA IN UGANDA

PRIOR TO WORKING FOR AKOLA IN UGANDA

Before working at Akola, women perceived themselves as hopeless, vulnerable and fearful. Now as empowered members of Akola, the women describe themselves as provider, appreciative, and independent.

T H E M O D E L W O R K S

Akola product sales stretch the impact of donated dollars by allowing 100% of contributions to go directly to empowerment, ministry and wellness programs.

B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T

B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E N T Our business programs address the financial education and planning gaps that are hindering our members’ abilityability to translate their increased access to capital and their increased sense of self into small business initiatives in their communities. Each year topics will be chosen based on an analysis of the goals our members have chosen, to ensure that our programming best supports their growth in the areas they have chosen. Examples of small business educational programming might be how to assess if there is a market for your product, how to calculate when you project to earn back your initial investment, how to keep records, components of customer service, and small-scale marketing. Through these programs, women learn the process of goal setting and planning, which will enable each member to take ownership of her own development.planning, which will enable each member to take ownership of her own development.

F I N A C I A L L I T E R A C Y Akola programs include robust financial literacy training including budgeting, savings and loans. Family and Business Budgeting helps members better manage their finances to meet their goals. Our courses include wants vs. needs, income vs. expenditure, and discussions around why it is important to keep family and business financesfinances separate. During these classes we look at different types of growth financing, from loans with interest to savings to savings with interest. We have interactive activities to allow our members to practice balancing a budget, determining the viability of a hypothetical business, and determining which types of growth capital are appropriate for which types of opportunities. 

H E A L T H P R O G R A M S

H I V / A I D S C O U N S E L I N G & T E S T I N G AkolaAkola Project partners with the Aids Information Center in Jinja to provide HIV testing and counseling to all Akola members in Eastern Uganda. THE AIC counselors meet with each member to review the results of the test, and for those who tested positive, the counselors offer additional emotional support, as well as practical information about where the member can receive free HIV/AIDS treatment.

M A L A R I A T E S T I N G Akola Project partners with the AIC to host a “Lunch and Learn” seminars where the AIC gives talks on malaria. Akola also sponsors free malaria blood tests.

TT U B E R C U L O S I S E D U C A T I O N Akola Project partners with the AIC to launch informational seminars on the dangers of TB. TB has particular relevance for our members because among those at the highest risk for TB are babies and young children, and those who are HIV positive. The seminar shares about the types of TB, how TB works, the symptoms of TB, how TB is different from other diseases, how to prevent TB, and how to treat TB.

V I S I O N M A I N T E N A N C E Akola provides free vision tests and provides reading glasses for women in the program.

FF A M I L Y P L A N N I N G & M A T E R N A L H E A L T H S E M I N A R Akola partners with the Uganda Village Project to offer our members in Eastern Uganda programs on family planning and maternal health. The programs covers the importance of family planning, myths and misconceptions and presents healthy family planning methods.

A K O L A H O L I S T I C P R O G R A M M I N G { 2 0 1 4 - 2 0 1 5 }

Akola uses our social business as a platform to launch programs that benefit women and families in poverty.

*Akola relies solely on donations to fund our programs

L E A D E R S H I P D E V E L O P M E N T

A P P R E C I A T I V E I N Q U I R Y Each month’s curriculum incorporates appreciative inquiry, which encourages the women to identify and focus on the strengths they see in themselves and their communities, allowing them to build on the positive present to achieve their vision for a better future.

L E A D E R S H I P T R A I N I N GAkolaAkola hosts seminars on leadership and professionalism to teach members about 10 traits of professionalism (re-spect, roles, boundaries, appearance, hierarchy, support, confidentiality, relationships, trust, and appreciation).

P A R T I C I P A T O R Y M O N I T O R I N G & E V A L U A T I N GAkola’s monitoring tools draw on leading development philosophy including Participatory Learning and Action (PLA). PLA uses pictures and mapping to communicate to our illiterate members. PLA encourages members to explain the change they see in themselves in their own words and decide the indicators that are important to them.

M I N I S T R Y P R O G R A M S

V I L L A G E F E L L O W S H I PVillage Fellowship is a small group program with the goal of creating a space for members to grapple more deeply with the word of God. Each member has the opportunity to meet once a month with her small group. Vil-lage Fellowship also serves as an opportunity for Akola to identify and cultivate strong leaders in our village programs.

*During Village Fellowship members have asked each other “How can we know God?” and “What about us

shows that we are made in the image of God?” As the women grow more comfortable with engaging directly

with scripture, they are increasingly able to identify ways in which individual verses apply directly to their

everyday lives.

S C R I P T U R E S E A R C H AkolaAkola incorporates World Vision’s Scripture Search model to encourage participants to share their experiences as they relate to a particular verse or passage. This activity also encourages interfaith dialogue between Akola members.

*During an evaluation of the program at the six-month mark, one member revealed she was so thankful for a

program that “teaches the gospel instead of preaches the gospel.”

S U P P O R T P R O G R A M S

W E L L N E S SAkolaAkola promotes women in the program to become wellness officers to support fellow Akola members in times of loss by aattending funerals, births and weddings. Wellness Officers also visit very sick members to offer practical and spiritual support.

M E A S U R I N G P R O G R E S S Each year, Akola members are presented with 60 pictures illustrating activities and emotions from daily life. Each member selects the 5 pictures that she feels best represent her current view of her own skills, strengths, potential, and/or fears. A trained Team Leader then transcribes personal traits into the Empowerment M&E database to measure our wellness eEmpowerment M&E database to measure our wellness efforts.

EMPOWERING WOMEN TO BECOME AGENTS OF TRANSFORMATION.

@AKOLAPROJECT FACEBOOK.COM/AKOLAPROJECT @AKOLAPROJECT PINTEREST.COM/AKOLAPROJECT

A K O L A P R O J E C T . O R G || 2 6 4 6 M A I N S T R E E T # 1 1 0 D A L L A S , T X 7 5 2 2 6