Sagan is an apprenticeship program & digital learning opportunities where these students would be paired up with a STEM company through their university. Modeled after the CO-OP program, universities pair students up with STEM companies in East Africa, they would be working there to earn a credit at their university for 5-6 months. Students choose their top 3 companies to be an apprentice at & the school would send in requests while setting interviews.

Steps for match making to companies through schools: \\\\r\\\\n1. Schools with partner up with STEM companies to do these programs for a duration of a semester. Students will take an "apprenticeship/co op course" given by the school for a school semester\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\n2. Students will be choosing their top 3 STEM companies they wish to be an apprentice at & hand in in their "profiles" (shortened resume). The school will submit the requests from the students and STEM companies will interview the students who's profiles they like best and can add value to their company\\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\n3. Students accepted will undergo a one month training time with the company and complete the apprenticeship over the duration. An apprenticeship is the type of employment where a person is learning from a skilled employer, having agreed to work for a fixed period at low wages. It is not considered permanent, so students can work their for a designated time (based on semesters). According to the Industrial Training Act, minors may work as an apprentice without setting a minimum wage. Working with the community helps build trust, ensure cultural considerations are accounted for, and helps to empower the local community which directly correlates with improving STEM education. One of our focuses in the early stages of Sagan are to build and maintain good relationships with the local communities we pilot Sagan in and work with local partners to make our project sustainable. We also want to employ locals within the communities we work in, to help uplift the economy and empower the community. One partnership we’d love to do is with WE Charity’s schools in their WE Villages. One of their five pillars of Sustainable Development is Education, which includes various school locations, teacher accommodations, and libraries. WE Schools focuses on primary and secondary schools. They recently (Summer 2019) opened their first ever College - WE College. We’re looking to partner with their secondary school for girls - Kisaruni and WE College to pilot our apprenticeship opportunities and digital education.

The core technology that powers our solutions is programming! We'll be programming our apprenticeship platform and in the future our digital toolbox. Our team has experience with programming and will be growing our team to build out our project over the next couple of months. Both founders also are adept in exponential technologies and always use a technology perspective when problem-solving. If there are other areas in this project that need technological innovation in the future it will be incorporated. For now we're sticking to programming as the core technology to power Sagan (AI & IoT based technology). For our solution, this digital platform will serve as an online mentorship community for these girls in STEM; where they can access strong female mentors to help guide them through our website during the duration of their placement. Through school or our website, girls can sign up for the apprenticeship program which includes filling out a profile on themselves or making a resume. Within the western world, co-op placements are usually done manually through the schools, but this is not efficient as technology can not only help speed up the process, but include personalized suggestions just as we are trying to do. For example; the platform will have a way to initially match young girls with institutions based on preferences, questionnaires they fill out, which will help to connect them to companies who might be a good fit. \\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nGirls will put in 3 requests for companies they believe are the best suited for them, and the companies will filter through the profiles to ensure they want to proceed with an interview (check slide 10 on our deck pitch for interview questions). We wish to instill a strong sense of community by connecting girls from different apprenticeships through our platform to interact and have a community of boss women supporting each other in the STEM field for the duration of their apprentice semester.

This solution is being governed and facilitated through our existing partners, Futureshot Factory, Government of Canada and more who are investing in our program to take it to new heights and help other young girls recieve proper education in East African Countries. Once the program is piloted, the collaboration will be between the schools, our current partners and companies helping us to bring apprentices to their institutions. Companies will offer students benefits to ensure proper care such as (counseling services, a feeding program for breakfast and lunch, and possibly even bursaries. If the university feels that students excelled in the program, they can give them a bursary reward/pay their tuition for STEM education in school (like a scholarship). One of our focuses in the early stages of Sagan are to build and maintain good relationships with the local communities we pilot Sagan in and work with local partners to make our project sustainable. Within the western world, co-op placements are usually done manually through the schools, but this is not efficient as technology can not only help speed up the process, but include personalized suggestions just as we are trying to do. For example; the platform will have a way to initially match young girls with institutions based on preferences, questionnaires they fill out, which will help to connect them to companies who might be a good fit. \\\\r\\\\n\\\\r\\\\nWhat makes Sagan stand out amongst other platforms and possible competitors is our niche and ability to adapt to the East African environment, rather than adapt it to how we operate solutions in our western world.

Me to We, Government of Canada, Futureshot Factory & Rising Youth