For me the OUISSAL program has been particularly helpful, at first in my business strategy and planning. It also provided support in developing my leadership skills and building a strong team. Since joining this mentoring program, I have expanded market reach, I also developed new products based on market insights and feedback from my mentor Anissa.

Mentoring programs like OUISSAL are crucial for women’s empowerment.

I think the OUISSAL program helped Hafsa to gain more confidence; being there to support her, to provide her with guidance during critical moments was a game changer. Hafsa developed a very innovative and sustainable social business so it was very inspiring to support her throughout her journey.

The OUISSAL program has been invaluable to me during this transitional phase. Moving from running a sole-owned factory to establish and lead a larger one as a chairwoman makes it essential to have an experienced mentor to help me navigate these new responsibilities and challenges.

Dr. Kirsten Soyke's mentorship not only has helped me gain confidence, focus and verify the true goals but also to deal with objectives and obstacles efficiently and calmly in both my professional and personal life.

The development program OUISSAL gives a base and room to maneuver to the desired mentoring, which is very conducive to the benefits of mentoring. The task was and is sophisticated: to support my smart mentee Rasha in developing her company from a very successful medium sized enterprise to a globally active company.

The program is invaluable for women entrepreneurs who can share their ideas and problems and it enables women to support and strengthen each other.

Catherine has been the ideal mentor for me. She has a unique ability to listen deeply and speak wisely, which has made her a perfect match for my needs. Since joining the OUISSAL program, we have made major achievements. 

Thanks for the EMA team for this incredible initiative. Programs like OUISSAL are important for women’s empowerment because networking is a key factor in business success.

The OUISSAL program has been a transformative experience for me, both professionally and especially personally. It expanded my network, provided me with valuable insights and helped me to grow as an entrepreneur, Marlis Jahnke’s mentorship has been instrumental in refining Jawsak’s strategy and approach.

The OUISSAL workshops were incredibly valuable, providing us with the practical tools that I could immediately apply to my business.

It was very inspiring to work with Siham. We worked on accelerating Jawsak, turning vision into a go to market strategy with achievable milestones and prospective products and services.

Programs like OUISSAL can make the difference in one’s journey as an entrepreneur.

We work together as a team, not as a mentor or mentee. Heike Aiello helped me restructuring the strategy and setting the priorities for my business.

Today I have a clear vision and better strategy. We built a stronger relationship with our customers and gained a lot of contacts and sales deals.

Ismahen already had a successful business which she wanted to consolidate and expand. What I am especially proud of for Ismahen is that all her hard work paid off and she was awarded the third place for the most successful women’s start up business of the year in Africa in 2024.