Learning about Buzz Green and Buzz Business

During the week of October 12th, trainers and program staff from three countries – Kenya, Tanzania, and The Gambia – gathered in Nairobi. They came to learn about two specialized programs within the Buzz Women approach: Buzz Business and Buzz Green.

Our road to transformation

The Buzz Women approach is a sequence of steps that leads to sustainable, community-led change. It begins with the Inner Strength Training, after which the women choose a leader from among themselves. She joins the Inspiration Fellowship, where she develops her personal and leadership skills, and becomes an Anchor Woman. She keeps bringing the women of her community together in groups we call Beehives, where they share what they learn and tackle community challenges side by side. The Anchor Woman is the vital link between Buzz Women and her community.

Once the Beehives are established, women can join our specialized programs.

Buzz Green has eight modules, delivered over four days. It builds awareness of our natural wealth, such as water, land and sun, and opens conversations about how the natural world, and our behavior towards it, is changing. From there, the women develop their own solutions and actions for their homes and villages.

Buzz Business has five modules, delivered over five days, for women who are ready to grow their businesses. They reflect on themselves as entrepreneurs and on their skills and talents, explore the challenges holding their businesses back and how to face them, and identify new opportunities. They leave with SMART goals and a clear plan to take home and practice over time.

Beyond the training room

The content of the week mattered, but so did everything in between. The conversations over coffee, at lunch and around the dinner table were just as valuable. They are where the Buzz Women philosophy stops being something you learn and becomes something you feel and live.

“I fell in love with the Buzz Women model all over again, after our conversations about how each program is designed to ask questions and let women find their own solutions.”
— Program Officer, ELF-Africa, Buzz Women Kenya

That idea, letting women find their own solutions, touches on a question we often ask ourselves. As an organization working with women, where does our role begin and where does it end? When you care deeply about the women you work with, it is easy to start feeling responsible for every outcome, and even for their lives, instead of trusting that they will carry the learnings forward in their own way.

Looking back

This trip showed the depth and many layers of our work and of the Buzz Women movement:

• The new curricula: practical, relevant and deeply personal.
• The trainers: the doorway into the communities and into the women’s hearts.
• The country teams and leaders: building the movement every day with joy, courage and love.
• The Buzz Women Global team: binding all the elements together.

What’s next?

Now each country team begins contextualizing the programs: creating locally relevant examples, translating materials into local languages, and checking which activities work in each implementation area. All teams agreed that the programs will strengthen the holistic impact of the broader Buzz Women approach.

We wish Buzz Women Gambia, our partner in Tanzania The Sote Initiative, and our partner in Kenya Emerging Leaders Foundation (ELF-Africa) every success as they roll out Buzz Business and Buzz Green starting in January 2027.

Finally, a heartfelt thank you to the Mastercard Foundation for making this possible. Read more about our partnership with Mastercard Foundation.