Presently, women’s financial security, health and well-being are issues that impact gender equality. Our project aims to empower young women aged 18 to 23 who are developing their careers, with spotlights on financial literacy and mentoring support. Research has shown that mentoring aids knowledge and social capital transfer, thus a critical component for career success.

Financial Literacy: Our structured workshops “Managing your finances when you start working” will equip mentees with knowledge and skills in developing their financial literacy skills. It will then provide a common topic for mentors and mentees to delve deeper during their mentoring sessions. In 2 follow-up sessions, the mentors will help them apply workshops learnings towards tangible outcomes in the areas of career, finances, and well-being.

Mentoring: A selection and matching process will be created to shortlist mentees to suitable mentors. Shortlisted pairs will then interact through a “speed-dating” process to know each other before indicating if they like to proceed as a ‘match’. This increases ownership of the pairing process and sets the stage for a more fruitful relationship. To align expectations, prior training will be given to both mentors and mentees.

Empower2Free: We are a social enterprise with the aim to educate the next generation with life skills relevant to change, enabling each child and youth to adapt and progress, being future ready in the new global economy. Our long term vision is to build a world where every young person can make confident and informed money decisions . With more than 4 years of supporting youths in Singapore and Australia, we have partnered with several community organizations to aid young women in acquiring life skills and financial literacy. This seed funding will allow us to expand the scope of what we do and pilot this project for young women in a bid to touch more lives with our established financial literacy curriculum.