Women Fit for Business Cyprus, a scholarship program for unemployed female university graduates
AIPFE Cyprus-Women of Europe has joined forces with EY Cyprus and CIM Cyprus Institute of Marketing to locally relaunch the successful European initiative Women Fit for Business (WF4B) Cyprus.
WF4B is an intensive 8-month collaboration targeting young, unemployed, female university graduates, under the age of 35. It aims to help provide them with the necessary hard and soft skills to enter or re-enter the labour market and/or start their own business.
“AIPFE Cyprus has been empowering, motivating and connecting women for the last 20 years,’ says AIPFE President Anna Koukkides Procopiou. “We are running this program third time round exactly because we believe in helping girls and women understand how powerful they already are, while creating a positive impact on society as a whole.”
Sixteen candidates will be chosen through a competitive interview selection process. The program, which will commence in mid-April 2019 and run through November 2019, will cover a wide range of topics, comprising of female leadership training, communication skills, business skills, social media and digital marketing etc.
This program is open to all Cyprus residents and specifically aims at creating an inclusive and diverse team of female participants.
Interested applicants may send their CV, along with a letter of interest detailing the reasons they wish to apply for this program and the professional benefits that can be accrued through the attainment of soft skills. Good command of the English language is imperative, as the program will be conducted in English. Applicants must also send the names and contact details of two referees. All applications must be received via email to info@aipfe.com by 30 March 2019.
Successful candidates will be selected to embark on an 8-month course, which includes training, internships and mentoring. Applicants in temporary/part-time employment, part-time education, and/or professional courses will be considered on merit.
Speaking on behalf of The CIM, Yangos Hadjiyannis, Deputy Director-General noted that “We at The Cyprus Institute of Marketing are delighted to be joining as partners to the WF4B initiative for the first time. At the CIM we are nurturing Business Leaders for the past 41 years, so this project provides an excellent opportunity to us to transfer knowledge and inspire young women for a successful career. Moreover, such initiatives are fully aligned with our Social Responsibility Strategy and we look forward to working closely with our Partners and the participants for a very rewarding journey through WF4B”.
“Women make up more than half the population of the world, yet women are often overlooked as catalysts for economic growth and prosperity,” said Stavros Pantzaris, Country Managing Partner of EY Cyprus . “In Cyprus, this disparity is prevalent. Women’s empowerment, advancement and leadership are central to business performance and economic prosperity and EY’s purpose of building a better working world, encompasses a special focus on accelerating the global gender parity clock. The WF4B program provides the perfect platform to do this, and we are very proud to support this initiative for a second time! We are determined to continue to champion our commitment to equality in the workplace and mobilize local resources and skills to facilitate the conversation about why and how to get more women into leadership roles,” he added.