Hazel Chawapiwa Founder of The 2Inspire Network Nominated For STAR Award

Hazel Chawapiwa has been nominated for a STAR Award for her work with women and teens across London. The ethos of the STAR Awards is to recognise how women across the world are using their gifts to make the world a better place. The Awards are a global recognition amongst 100 women making an impact in their communities internationally and locally, awarded to those individuals that have made a real difference by helping others become great.

Hazel Chawapiwa was born in the UK in the mid-70s but originates from Zimbabwe. She is a passionate business woman who started her first business in 1999 whilst studying at University. Hazel often says the financial strains of being a young single mother and a student was the motivation for her to start her own business. A redundancy and the need to raise a deposit to get on the property ladder led to her becoming involved in a number of business ventures one of them being an events company which she started with an old time friend. It was a successful venture and it was during this period that she realised that working full-time was suppressing her entrepreneurial spirit. It is an honour, therefore to have her hard work recognised by The STAR Award Committee.

Hazel launched The 2inspire network in May of 2012, “Empowering individuals and helping them to realise their potential is something that I am passionate about. I believe that women should work together and support each other on their journeys, this belief is the foundation of the network, an organisation that provides forums and platforms that help to empower, promote and inspire women” says Founder Hazel Chawapiwa. In 2013 Hazel also launched the social enterprise The 2Inspire Academy; a personal development and life-skills programme for young people aged 16-21. The 2Inspire academy has been established to help young people focus on what's important for them now and in the future, to learn the mindset and life-skills for success, and to help them set and achieve personal targets.

The STAR Awards will take place during The Extraordinary Lady Speaks Conference on Saturday 18th June 2016 hosted by LiftEffects.

Help us to make it happen for the 2inspire Academy: Young, Gifted and Talented Compilation Album Project

Help us to make it happen for the 2inspire Academy: Young, Gifted and Talented Compilation Album Project.

2inspire Academy is a personal development community project for young people run by young people, in 2014 they launched a project titled Young, Gifted and Talented. It is a music development project which was developed for young artists that displayed amazing talent in areas such as song writing, vocals and performance. The Artists involved were all hand-picked via an audition process.

In order to fund the project 2inspire Academy have now launched a crowd funding campaign titled the Young, Gifted and Talented music compilation album project.

The aim of this crowd funding appeal is to raise enough funds to provide the artists with the opportunity to access a recording studio in order to; produce a compilation album, get experience, work with professionals, gain exposure, and develop their own individual projects.

More information on the ideology behind the project and what the funds raised will be used for can be found on the Indiegogo campaign page. This is where you can also watch the amazing video put together by the Young people of the Academy.

 CLICK HERE TO VIEW CAMPAIGN & VIDEO

On Friday 6th February 2015, 2inspire Academy will be hosting a showcase for  the Young, Gifted and Talented artists to raise awareness of
their fundraising campaign and to provide another opportunity for them to showcase their talents.

The showcase is from 8pm-10.30pm and will be FREE ENTRY to all. Registration is not necessary but if you register your attendance on the link below you can claim a free cocktail at the event:

TO CLAIM YOUR FREE COCKTAIL & REGISTER ON-LINE - CLICK HERE

We would like to thank all those who have supported the Academy and helped us with the campaign to date. On the back of the promotion for the campaign, doors have been opened for the Young, Gifted and Talented team to get advice and knowledge from key figures at Radio 1Xtra and MTV, these developments alone are so amazing as they are providing the artists with genuine opportunities to support their progression and to develop as artists. We appreciate that not every one can contribute but would really appreciate your support by helping us to spread the word about the campaign and share the link on social media platforms.  

For more information on the Academy and the work it does:  2inspire Academy Project Review

2014 END OF YEAR MESSAGE

As 2014 is swiftly drawing to an end I thought it only fitting to put out this final post for the year. I would really like to thank ALL those who have worked in partnership, volunteered or helped to develop 2inspire Network and 2inspire Academy in one way or another. 

I am extremely grateful to have connected with some amazing people this year and truly humbled by the support which has led to an array of possibilities for 2015.  

I must say I have been encouraged and truly inspired by many to keep going, develop myself and to build on my vision. If there is one thing that I have learnt this year is that regardless of what you are going through the best thing you can do for yourself and those around you is make the most of yourself and strive to reach your full potential. This mindset not only keeps you focused but inspires, motivates and empowers those around you.  

It is sad how there is so much undeveloped, wasted potential in this world, granted in some cases it is because the resources and opportunities are not available, but for many of us it is because of insecurity, self-doubt, fear and other negative phrophecies about what we are and are not capable of that holds us back.

Anything worth doing is not easy, if you want to develop your potential and succeed at being all you can be, keep your eyes on the prize and press on, it won't be easy but it will be worthwhile.

So on that note I would just like to add: Remember, circumstances can be over come with determination and faith, don't dwell on the bad, focus on the good. Life is too short to be any thing but happy. Bull doze your way into 2015 with a pledge to make the best of yourself and see what will manifest.

Wishing you all a magnificent New Year and the ability to rise to the top in whatever you endeavour to do.

Please vote for 2inspire Academy to win funding to motivate and inspire young people in Schools

Please vote for 2inspire Academy to get funding to deliver an inspirational and motivational programme titled “Anything is possible” to young people in schools. It is a tour of  secondary schools with a panel of young role models who achieved great things with their life despite adversity. The panel will discuss what they have been through and how they made it. We would particularly like to target years 11, 12 & 13 just before the revision period (study leave) starts at schools so that it will help to motivate the young people to make the best use of this time. 

Please spread the word and show your support by casting your vote on the link below:

http://www.skiptongrg.co.uk/apply-for-funding/whos-applying/london/2inspire-academy/

Background information on 2inspire Academy:

The 2inspire Academy is a personal development and life skills programme for young men and women aged 16-30 that is run by a committee of young people. It was set up in March 2013 and was formed to help young people focus on what's important for them now and in the future, providing them with access to positive opportunities and role models.

With increasingly limited options, young people have been unable to find genuine opportunities to support their progression and more and more young people are becoming demoralised and disenfranchised. They therefore decided to come together to be part of the solution for their current and future generations and take responsibility for their own development and that of their peers.

Since Their formation they have been able to achieve their aims and objectives by engaging with a range of philanthropic inspirational people and organisations, who share their core values and have helped them to support their growth and development. They have managed to provide them with the necessary advice, guidance, knowledge, education, experience, wisdom and resources to support the development of their various projects with little or no budget at all. Organisations that have supported them to date include Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust, Birbeck University, Westfield Shopping Centre (Stratford), Novotel hotel (Greenwich) and Think big 02.

Academy Projects:

1)Inspire the Youth Summer programme (August 2013):

A range of training and development workshops which were selected and co-ordinated by the Academy steering group and held at the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust in Lewisham over a 2 week period. Workshops covered entrepreneurship, music, filming, employability skills,motivation.

2)Young, gifted & talented (October 2013/June 2014):

Musical showcases which were held at the Fashion Meets Music shop in Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford and at the Novotel hotel in Greenwich in June 2014 . These events aimed to raise awareness of the 2inspire Academy and the amazing performers who were under the age of 30 and are aspiring artists actively pursuing a career in music. The event has proved to be a great opportunity for them to get exposure and provides a positive platform for expression for the young people.

3)Ready, Set, Go:Prepare for success(August 2014):

Birkbeck, University of London hosted the 2inspire Academy event 'Ready, Set, Go', funded by Think Big with 02. The workshop was a great opportunity for freshers and students, to start the academic year with insight that motivated and inspired attendees.  The event was designed to give students a headstart and support young people with their career aspirations, while ensuring that they develop the necessary life-skills to excel whilst at university.It included

•        A panel discussion with a panel of successful university students who have made university work for them.
•         A presentation and Q & A session with representatives from top organisations, highlighting: tips and advice on employability after university, additional activities that companies look out for, advice on writing a winning graduate application/CV.
•          A 'Preparation for Higher Education'session for attendees.
•          A session that looked at managing your student finances run by MyBnk, titled "Uni Dosh".

                               

4)Project “ I AM” which is targeted towards young parents. The project was devised to meet the needs of this group to ensure they address some of the issues they face and work towards positive goals for their families. The project will produce results in attendees life's in areas such as Family, Relationships, Health, Finance, Safety, Leisure, Work and More .

 Please spread the word and show your support by casting your vote on the link below:http://www.skiptongrg.co.uk/apply-for-funding/whos-applying/london/2inspire-academy/

2Inspire Profile: Lina Gadi, Founder and CEO at Start Young Global

As a young business woman Lina Gadi struggled to find networking and business information geared towards young entrepreneurs. As a result, she has now set up  Start young Global, which provides a platform for young people to network, grow and develop their brands. 

Please tell us what is a typical business day for you? 

I start work at 8.30am every morning, check my e-mails. Then I spend the morning updating and developing content on the site with my Sr Content Developer Mumsie Uwakhoye and development manager Aaron Wallace, followed by searching for business events that are coming up, dealing with queries and requests from our members. We get a lot of those. We also spend a lot of time working on our events, as soon as one is finished we are already working on our next one. We find that our members find our events extremely informative and always ask us to host them more often

What made you start the business and how did you get started?

I started my first business worth mentioning aged 21 and found it a real struggle to find information and networking events for business owners my age. I also felt that information was too scattered on the internet so after attending a networking event earlier this year I came up with the idea of creating one central starting point for all young entrepreneurs where they can access valuable information and resources as well as connect with others worldwide. Within one week we created and launched our first website which grew rapidly in membership and popularity.

 What would you say has been your greatest accomplishment in the business world to date?

Organizing our first event and managing to get high quality speakers involved. Through my ability to network and build relationships I have been fortunate enough to meet amazing people who were extremely enthusiastic about wanting to support and help me with my business.

The event was not only a hit with those who attended it but also with those who came to speak. We are now working on our next event on November 2^nd which is a trade show for young entrepreneurs only, this one will probably give us quite a challenge to bring together but I am extremely excited.

  What has been your biggest challenge in business so far?

Marketing on a tight budget has been my biggest challenge. Marketing is a costly activity if you want to create a big impact but it’s not impossible to get the same results on a tight budget if you’re creative. By using social media smartly and creatively I have managed to keep marketing costs low whilst still making a substantial impact.

I have learned that with the right connections and a little creativity, it’s a little easier to stretch your budget. Connecting with the right people and establishing partnerships that are equally beneficial to both parties has had a major impact on our marketing efforts.

  What are your future plans for the business?

We have very ambitious expansion plans for the business, many of which involve us penetrating international markets. Our immediate plans include launching workshops, a young entrepreneur’s only trade show which is due to take place in November and an award show to celebrate our one year milestone.

Due to growing demand we are also looking into hosting events abroad so we are currently working on the logistics of that and connecting with companies abroad.  

If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?

I would have started earlier. I spent a lot of wasted time on self-doubt and hesitation. I wish I had taken the plunge earlier. I am realising now that nothing in business will ever go 100% according to plan, for the most part it’s all trial and error.

Why is it so important to inspire young women in particular to follow their dreams?

Because many dream to do so but don’t realize how possible it is to make that dream a reality, I was one of those youngsters who didn't think it was possible. My entire business model is built around the desire to inform young people about the endless possibilities starting a business of their own can provide and how achievable those goals are. Jobs are created by business owners; we need young people to start businesses so that more jobs become available for the current and next generation. 

I think as young women we look at the business world as a male dominated environment and this can sometimes cause us to feel like we don’t belong there which impacts on our desire to chase that dream. Young women are just as competent and capable of running successful businesses as their male counterparts and I think it’s important that message is sent across to them.

What advice would you give to somebody who wants to start a business in your industry?

Be passionate about wanting to provide a helping hand to people. My business is very much a service based business and you have to be passionate to be able to deliver those services to the highest quality. Also, be willing to admit when you’re wrong about something, many believe that admitting to a fault shows weakness when in fact it shows willingness and desire to improve which inspires a sense of trust from your clients.

What or who inspires you in business and why?

I am inspired by many different business people for different reasons but the people who tend to inspire me most of all are those who built their companies from the very ground up as I feel I can relate to their journey more. People like Kanya King who is my biggest role model and Hilary Devey who took on a male dominated world and won. These ladies don’t just inspire me in business, they inspire me in life

What is your favourite inspirational quote?

A quote by Henry Ford, “whether you think you can or you think you can’t – you’re right”

Contact Details

Twitter: @LinaGadi
E-mail: lina@startyounguk.com 

Website: www.startyoungglobal.com 

Facebook: StartYoungGlobal

Twitter: @SYGlobal_

The 2Inspire Academy presents Young, Gifted & Talented - October 10th

2inspire Academy presents Young, Gifted and Talented Musical showcase at the Fashion Meets Music pop-up shop, The Street, Stratford Westfield Shopping Centre on the 10th October 2013 from 7pm. 

Hosted by Deja Vu FM's radio show host, Charley Jai, this event aims to raise awareness of the 2inspire Academy and the amazing performers lined up to perform .  All of the performers are under the age of 30 and are aspiring artists who are actively pursuing a career in music. The event will be a great platform for them to showcase their talents and will provide them with the opportunity to get exposure.

2inspire Academy is a personal development & life skills programme for young men and women, run by a committee of young people who are passionate about empowering their social group. Pebbles Denty, 18 of 2inspire Academy says that “The young, gifted and talented musical showcase was created because one of the key aims of the Academy is to develop activities and events which promote young people in a more positive light and also provide young people with a positive outlet for self-expression.”

The event is being held as part of Fashion Meets Music programme which consists of various workshops, performances and runway shows.  Dennica Abdo of Fashion Meets Music says “We understand the importance of promoting fresh talent. At FMM we work to promote new and up-coming designers and artists”. The Pop-up shop was launched on the 6^th September at Westfield, Stratford and will be there until the 20^th October 2013.

The young gifted and Talented showcase is a free event and will include dynamic performances, a run-way show in the Interval by Smomo Designs, drink, networking and a chance to shop in the FMM Pop-up shop.

For more information:

www.2inspirenetwork/2inspireacademy

Email: 2inspireacademy@gmail.com 

Twitter: @2inspireacademy

Notes to editor:

2inspire Academy which was founded in May 2013, it is a personal development & life skills programme for young  men and women and  is run by a committee of young people. The Academy was set up to address negative stereotypical images of young people and provide access to positive opportunities and role models.  The Academy recently completed a 2 week summer programme titled “Inspire the youth”  in partnership with the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust at the Stephen Lawrence Centre in Lewisham. The programme consisted of 5 workshops which covered were Enterprise skills, Multimedia, Music technology and CV writing/Interview techniques. 

The 2Inspire Academy "INSPIRE THE YOUTH" Summer Programme

August 30^th 2013 saw the completion of a 2 week summer programme titled “Inspire the youth” at the Stephen Lawrence Centre in Lewisham. The programme consisted of 5 workshops which were selected by a group of young people who are on the Steering Group for the 2inspire Academy.  The 5 workshops covered were Enterprise skills, Multimedia, Music technology and CV writing/Interview techniques. 

The Academy offers personal development & life skills programmes for young men and women aged 16-24 years,  it was set up to address negative stereotypical images of young people and provide access to personal development opportunities and role models.  Pebbles Denty, 18years old, a Steering Group member, says “I joined the Academy because I was intrigued to see what we would be able to achieve and what I could learn along the way. I wanted to be a part of something that could help to empower and motivate other young people. The summer programme was our first project, we learnt a lot and now have lots of ideas that we want to work on”.

The Academy was founded in March 2013 by Hazel Chawapiwa, Founder of The 2Inspire Network, Hazel says “I encouraged the Steering Group to take ownership of the Academy as it is important that young people take responsibility for their own development; are seen in a positive light by others; and they feel that they are valuable individuals who are able to make a positive contribution to society.  I was completely blown away by the young people’s commitment to the project and the results they produced in such a short space of time. With increasingly limited options, young people have been unable to find genuine opportunities to support their progression and more and more young people are becoming demoralized and disenfranchised.  The Academy was formed to be part of the solution and I am very proud of how the Steering Group have developed it.”

The Academy started planning the programmes in May 2013 and met fortnightly to develop the program and also to plan fund raising events. They successfully formed a partnership with the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust to run the workshops at the Stephen Lawrence Venue and were able to build relationships with Tutors to facilitate the workshops. Tutors were Junior Ogunyemi of Junior Entrepreneur, Poet and media specialist Patricia Foster, Lorna Stewart of Black 100+, Cory Waldron of KMC Talent Management. 

The Opening Ceremony for the event took place on Monday 19^th August to kick start the summer programme, The steering group opened the ceremony with presentation to inform attendees of the their aims and objectives and future plans for the Academy.  Lewisham Mayor Sir Steve Bullock and former Young Mayor of Lewisham, Jacob Sakil follwed with a speech and officially opened the programme with a cut of the ribbon.

 Sir Steve Bullock said that he attended the event to support the opening of the “inspire the Youth “ programme  as he strongly believes in the aims and objectives of the 2inspire Academy and thought it commendable that young people were being proactive and taking responsibility for their own development and that of their peers”. The Ceremony was ended with Performances from Nyarai and Chris Royal who entertained the crowd with their excellent vocal performances.

21 young people in total accessed the programme over the 2 week period and evaluations of the workshops have been very positive and have shown a demand for more. Felicity King, 18 years, said “I managed to attend most of the workshops and I really feel that I learnt a lot. I also gained a lot of knowledge from the experience of being part of the Steering Group, I am so happy to have been asked to be involved.  I have loved the journey so far and can’t wait to see what else we are able to do. Next time we will ensure we closely review optional dates in the summer, to ensure we do not clash with the period of exam result release dates and college and university enrolment, as a number of our attendees had to miss a few session due to clashes with these commitments,  but overall we are really pleased with the outcome and feedback.”

The Academy will be engaging in fund-raising events and activities whilst developing their next project. The next fund-raising event will be a talent showcase at Westfield Shopping Centre on October 3^rd as part of the Fashion Meets Music Pop Up Boutique that will be running from 7^thSeptember to 20^th October 2013.

For more information on the academy:

@2inspireacademy

www.2inspirenetwork/2inspireacademy.com

The 2Inspire Academy "INSPIRE THE YOUTH" Summer Programme

FREE SUMMER WORKSHOPS FOR 16-24 YEAR OLDS AT STEPHEN LAWRENCE CENTRE, SE8 4HU

The academy is a personal development and life-skills programme for young people aged between 16-24.  The academy was formed to help young people focus on what's important for them now and in the future, providing them with access to positive opportunities and role models. The aim is to enable them to make informed decisions, increase their skills and achieve personal targets to become confident active citizens within their communities. 

 A steering group was formed for the Academy which consists of 8 16-24 year olds who guide the decision making of the Academy. The academy steering group meet regularly and have now developed a program  for their peers and  been a part of  fund raising events to help fund the  project.

The "Inspire the youth project" was planned around feedback from members of the steering group about additional skills or knowledge they felt their peers would like to acquire. A partnership was formed with Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust to deliver the courses under the Smarter Communities Project at the Stephen Lawrence Centre.

Register for free here: http://2inspireacademysummerprogramme.eventbrite.co.uk/