During our first supporters meeting in June 2016 it rapidly became clear that, apart from some very motivated volunteers willing to support us in various ways, we had the honour to have some very strong and experienced experts joining the meeting. After an inspiring evening we decided the group of experts was large enough to organise a separate trainers meeting with the people that showed interest in going to Cuba for us to provide workshops.
Hence, on 15 July we gathered at the offices of Jos van der Sterren in Breda, at the NHTV. Jos has been involved from the very beginning of our initiative and even accompanied us a year ago to Cuba as an Inclusive Finance consultant. He is also Dean to the NHTV and warmly welcomed us at his offices to discuss the 2016 workshop program.
May 2016 ANEC and Stichting Credit4Cuba agreed on a pilot period, to understand the needs and requirements of the entrepreneurs, to research what works and doesn’t work in Cuba and to obtain approval for the development of a full training program for 2017. We agreed on providing monthly workshops to (starting) entrepreneurs till the end of 2016, inviting one expert/trainer per month to Cuba to provide an interactive workshop at the ANEC headquarters.
During our trainers meeting in July we discussed the program and required subjects for the pilot program, providing Cuban entrepreneurs with financial and management skills, as well as tools to run a successful business. We came to the following schedule for the coming months:
- August, Gerben Beijenveld, professor in Entrepreneurship at the NHTV and mentor to young entrepreneurs: workshop on the Business Model Canvas
- September, Jan Louvenberg, Human Resources Consultant & Advisor: workshop on the Key Competences of an Entrepreneur
- October, Jos van der Sterren, Inclusive Finance consultant: workshop on Financial Products and Microfinance
- November, Amaya Garmendia, Finance Consultant and coach to entrepreneurs: workshop on Business and Finance Models
- December, Erik Tjabberings, Renewable Energy Advisor and Consultant: topic to be decided
We are very proud to have gathered such a great group of experts and some of them are even missing on the above pilot list, like Teun Heuvelink and Elwin Giel. Elwin provided a workshop on Marketing in Havana last June and we are sure Teun will be part of the 2017 program.
If you are interested in providing workshops or trainings to Cuban entrepreneurs as well or would like to assist with the development of the 2017 program, please feel free to send us an email at info@credit4cuba.com.