Women Artisans & Entrepreneurship

Engeye supports an entrepreneurship initiative for women in Ddegeya and the surrounding communities. It provides the means for women to work in a collective with other women and/or start a business to earn an income for their families.

Many local women participate in a craft collective which produces baskets, fabric items, paper bead jewelry and other products that are purchased by volunteers and visitors to Engeye. The women are paid for each item created and additional profits are used to support the community initiatives of the Artisans program.

In addition to the craft collective, the Artisan program distributes grants, with the help of its partner programs, to individual women to assist them in starting their own business. These funds have enabled women to start, among other things, a hair salon, juice businesses and a storefront that sells food and drinks.

Engeye is a proud partner with The Storm jewelry. The women at The Storm are committed to empowering and funding female entrepreneurs and a portion of the proceeds from the sale of items in their Equality Collection are donated to help fund women entrepreneurs through the Engeye Artisan’s program.

Workspace

In 2017, Engeye added a dedicated workspace co-located in the Scholars Center building to support the production of artisan goods. It has sewing machines, work stations, and is a safe place to store materials and finished products.