ALT TEXT

“My hopes in life are to open more branches of my salon, so that they would become a school where I can teach some young girls like myself. Or for those who already have skills, they could be employed.” Juliet Nerea, 20, has realised her dream of becoming a businesswoman. She runs a salon in a busy neighbourhood of Nairobi.  

Juliet is one of more than 2,000 girls between the ages of 16 and 19 from some of Kenya’s poorest communities who are benefiting from the IRC project Girls Empowered by Microfranchise (GEM).

This successful and innovative project helps teenage girls escape the cycle of poverty by helping them to partner with established companies with the goal of creating their own small businesses.

We recently visited Juliet at her salon, this film tells her story. Please watch and share.