The ISV New Talents Program supports talented individuals, who aspire to become Smart Village Entrepreneurs and Developers working to provide electricity in the most vulnerable communities in the world.
What is IEEE Smart Village (ISV)?
The IEEE Smart Village (ISV) initiative is a flagship program of the IEEE Foundation. The goal of IEEE Smart Village is to engage ten Smart Village Entrepreneurs each year, support them with up to $200,000 of seed funding and help them grow micro-utility businesses. Gradually, these ventures aim to impact a million people with clean electricity, communications and quality education. The ISV model of operation brings together a variety of skilled experts from both industry and academia. Jointly, they work hand in hand to empower off-grid communities. Learn more about Smart Village here.
Why New Talents?
IEEE Smart Village makes an impact because of the incredible expertise of volunteers. By harnessing talent across the extended IEEE family, ISV ensures their partners in the field are learning and developing mentoring relationships with the very best. For this reason, ISV New Talents encourages young leaders to pursue their passions while at the same time giving back to their communities.
The ISV New Talents Program supports talented individuals, who aspire to become Smart Village Entrepreneurs and Developers working to provide electricity in the most vulnerable communities in the world. In particular, ISV provides leadership opportunities and financial support to participate in the IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica (PAC 2020) Virtual Conference. The virtual conference dates are set for between August 24th and 29th 2020. At the same time, IEEE Smart Village (ISV) co-locates a series of workshops, presentations and round-table discussions at PAC.
Over the years, during the PAC editions, ISV delegates convene to discuss matters that affect the sustainability of rural communities. Majorly, these are energy entrepreneurs and volunteers working to empower remote off-grid communities to achieve self sustenance. By the same token, the selected ISV New Talents will have an opportunity to participate in and contribute to the different sessions being planned.
Be A Leader for a New Generation!
As we can see, the ISV program is structured to help the selected applicant become a leader. The ideal candidate has to demonstrate the following qualities:
- Understands and embraces ISV’s three pillars: Energy, Education and Entrepreneurship.
- Demonstrates startup experience with success.
- Builds respectful relationships with communities and treat them as working partners, not charity cases.
- Establishes respectful relationships with authorities at the village, state and national levels.
- Creates an excellent management team with business, technology, and education component
- Develops a clear vision of a business plan capable of reaching at least a million people in five years.
- Foresees the ability to attract investment capital for growth after a successful pilot in the long run.
- Envisions an ownership plan that includes and incentivizes community members as business partners.
- Willing to collaborate with holistic partners in addressing other critical needs.
- Passionately dedicates themselves to tackle the daunting challenges along the way
Why Apply?
Throughout the workshop sessions, participants will get a chance to meet with the ISV extended leadership who will guide you step by step on how to become a successful Smart Village entrepreneur. Besides, they will have an opportunity to meet with renowned micro-utility operators and developers. Due to this interaction, they will get to learn first hand from entrepreneurs who have excelled in the different fields. Ultimately, the IEEE Smart Village New Talents Program is about developing and reinforcing leadership, community involvement and global connections for a wholesome development.
The submission deadline is June 30th, 2020.
The successful applicants will be notified of the results after June 30th, 2020 . Incomplete or late application materials will not be considered. Selection decision is final, there is no appeal process. Successful applicants will need to register for the Power Africa conference themselves and will be eligible pay a special ISV reduced fee.
As a result of the 2019 PowerAfrica Conference in Abuja, Nigeria, we wrote about ISV’s participation at the conference and its continued steadfast mission to empower off-grid communities.
Finally, applicants should note that this is a highly competitive grant award. To read more on How to Apply and the Terms and Conditions of the grant award, please visit the New Talents Application website.
Thank you and we look forward to receiving your submissions.
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