Alina Karimamusama

Alina is a young woman driven to solve the challenges of gender inequality and economic marginalization facing women in Zambia.

Recognizing that a lack of skills and education was keeping a large number of women from becoming economically emancipated, Alina set up Youth Arize, a non profit that empowers women with tangible skills they can use to find or create work for themselves.

Her organization teaches women between the ages of 16-35 practical skills like basic and computer literacy, entrepreneurship, catering and beauticianship. Once trained, the women are connected to local businesses for apprenticeships and on the job training, while those who are interested in entrepreneurship are given space to sell their products at local markets and yard sales. Women who have completed the program have gone on to become gainfully employed and to start their own home based and mobile micro-enterprises.

Alina hopes to train at least 500 women with work ready skills in the next 5 years, and expand her training programmes to remote areas beyond the capital of Lusaka. She received the Queen’s Young Leaders Award in 2017 in recognition of her work with Youth Arize.