PATHWAY 3
Women’s Economic Empowerment
When women gain income stability, savings, skills, and leadership opportunities, the benefits extend through households, schools, and the wider community.
Why This Pathway Matters
Economic resilience is not created by one-time assistance. It grows when women can learn marketable skills, build savings, access responsible capital, strengthen enterprises, and make decisions with greater financial confidence.
Program Evidence Snapshot
Since launching in 2020, the One Way Out-led Dago Threads of Hope program has reached more than 120 women across seven cohorts through vocational tailoring, enterprise skills, and economic-empowerment support. Current 2026 monthly reports document ongoing production and customer sales. August 2026 sales reports are retained as separate, source-specific records; Friends of Dago does not publish a consolidated August net-profit figure. Earlier program records provide more detailed outcome evidence, including 14 women who completed national tailoring examinations and received certification.
Earlier program documents capture particular stages of this growth rather than the full cumulative reach. A 2024–2025 proposal reports 15 trainees establishing their own shops, alongside 14 students in the then-current cohort and 100% retention for that cohort. Friends of Dago is consolidating the seven cohort rosters and alumni records so future reporting can distinguish participation, certification, enterprise launch, and current livelihood outcomes.
A separate Dago Dala Hera activity record documents an Enactus/Ryerson-linked microloan program that issued 40 microloans to 30 women entrepreneurs over a three-year period. These figures are presented as program-reported evidence and will continue to be reconciled through participant, alumni, savings, enterprise, and repayment records.
September 2026 program status: Friends of Dago and Dago Dala Hera have jointly approved the Women’s Microfinance development and learning work and the proposed Village Banking design as part of their integrated five-workstream implementation plan. Prepared teaching materials may be adapted with local women’s direction; this approval does not itself establish active borrowers, operating savings groups, member deposits, new loans or a launched banking service. Future member rules, legal/naming checks and any financial operation are documented separately. One Way Out-led Threads of Hope remains a distinct partner-led program.
Women’s Microfinance — approved learning and development · Village Banking — proposed design, not yet rolled out
This pathway combines livelihoods with leadership, helping women and young mothers build greater stability for themselves and their families.
Community Leadership
Women’s groups, local trainers, savings associations, entrepreneurs, and community leaders shape the opportunities, peer support, and financial practices that make the pathway locally relevant.
Friends of Dago’s Role
Mobilize training resources, equipment, responsible capital, partnerships, reporting, and institutional support while keeping program direction rooted in women’s priorities.
Dago Threads of Hope — One Way Out Program
One Way Out-led tailoring and livelihood program serving Dago, with Dago Dala Hera leading local implementation and Friends of Dago supporting partnership stewardship, evidence and pathway alignment.
Savings & Access to Capital
Historical microfinance and financial-literacy work are documented. Friends of Dago and Dago Dala Hera have jointly approved further women-led financial-literacy and responsible-enterprise learning, along with the design of a proposed Village Banking initiative. Village Banking has not yet rolled out; no current group, deposit or lending service is claimed.
Financial Literacy & Enterprise
Financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and microenterprise development designed to strengthen household resilience and women’s leadership.
120+ women
Reached across seven cohorts since the program launched in 2020.
40 microloans
Documented in the historical microloan program; current ledger reconciliation is underway.
Joint Effort & Partner Evidence
Toronto Metropolitan University / Project Dago: its institutional archive reports 40 microloans, more than 40 businesses started, and 200 Kenyan women empowered through business education, financial literacy, and a revolving microfinance model. These are historical Project Dago figures and are kept separate from current Threads of Hope participation.
One Way Out Kenya: Friends of Dago’s founding Threads of Hope documentation identifies One Way Out as the program lead/owner, primary sponsor/developer, and principal funder of Dago Threads of Hope. One Way Out’s role builds on a longer Dago education relationship that included primary and secondary sponsorship, a girls’ secondary scholarship, preschool/kindergarten support, and boarding-primary sponsorship through Sirua Aulo.
DesignLab Give: a contributing technical and creative partner, publicly records working in Dago alongside One Way Out Kenya, Friends of Dago, Weiss Scholarship Foundation (now Ascend Kenya), Dream Sponsors, and Sanguinetti and Company. Its Dago work included sewing-center tools, skills instruction, reusable sanitary-pad education, and training future educators so skills could continue locally.
Program origin: the Threads of Hope idea began in 2018, and the first class launched in February 2020. The program was designed as a holistic vocational pathway combining tailoring with enterprise, financial literacy, job preparedness, design, wellness, and women’s health/nutrition.
Dream Sponsors: contributed the My Girl TRIBE inner-wellness component, including self-esteem, goal-setting, boundaries and healthy relationships, inner voice, dream-journal work, and feminine-hygiene support.
Threads of Hope collaboration: Current alignment identifies Dago Threads of Hope as a One Way Out-led program serving Dago, with Dago Dala Hera leading local implementation and Friends of Dago, Ascend/WSF, DesignLab Give, Dream Sponsors, and other collaborators contributing complementary funding, education, creative, wellness, and partnership support. Current community leadership reports more than 120 women across seven cohorts; historical partner records are used to show how technical training, equipment, sponsorship, and enterprise support came together over time.
Attribution standard: partner-wide and historical project figures are identified as such; current Dago participation, certification, enterprise, savings, and income outcomes are reported separately as the local alumni and enterprise registers are reconciled.