Aurora Impact

Pillar 1: Entrepreneurship 

Our entrepreneurship pillar supports aspiring and existing entrepreneurs through a structured, end-to-end growth journey, from early-stage incubation through to acceleration, funding readiness, and sustained business growth. 

Incubation & Acceleration 
Aurora Impact provides entrepreneurs with a nurturing environment in which to grow. Through the Aurora Foundation Accelerator Programme, participants receive mentorship, expert guidance, peer networking, and access to resources, all delivered through a personalised coaching and advisory model that recognises each business is unique and requires tailored attention to thrive. 

Business Development Services (BDS) Training 
Through hands-on, interactive BDS sessions, entrepreneurs develop the practical skills needed to run and grow a sustainable business — covering financial management, marketing, operations, and leadership. These sessions are designed to build not just knowledge, but genuine entrepreneurial confidence and capability. 

Investment Readiness Coaching 
Access to finance remains one of the biggest barriers for young entrepreneurs. Our Investment Readiness
Coaching directly addresses this by preparing entrepreneurs to pursue and secure funding with confidence. Participants learn how to develop compelling pitches, build financial projections, and understand the full spectrum of funding options available to them including grants, impact investment, equity, and debt financing. They also develop key investor-facing documents such as business plans and financial statements and gain practical insight into valuation and negotiation. By the end of the programme, entrepreneurs are equipped to present professionally, articulate their value proposition clearly, and engage with investors and funders on equal footing. 

Pillar 2: Employability 

Our employability pillar focuses on equipping young people with the practical, industry-relevant skills they need to enter and succeed in today's workforce, with a particular emphasis on digital skills and job readiness. 

ICT Short Courses 
Technology is foundational to modern work and business. Aurora Impact offers practical ICT short courses, including Advanced Excel, web design, coding, and Canva, that build real digital skills participants can apply immediately. These courses serve as a direct and accessible pathway to workforce entry, equipping young people with skills that are in demand across industries and that meaningfully improve their employability. For many participants, completing a short course is their first step toward a decent, sustainable livelihood, and we design our programmes with that outcome in mind. 

Learn more about our Short Courses →

Entrepreneurship Mindset 
Not everyone who goes through Aurora Impact will start a business, but we believe every young person benefits from thinking like an entrepreneur. Our Entrepreneurship Mindset short course is designed to shift the way young people see themselves and the world around them, equipping them with the tools and perspective to identify problems in their communities and respond with creativity, initiative, and purpose. 

Through this course, participants learn to reframe everyday challenges as opportunities, develop solution-oriented thinking, and build the confidence to take action. Sessions explore topics such as opportunity identification, creative problem-solving, resilience, and community-driven innovation, all grounded in the real social and economic realities young people in Sierra Leone face. 

The goal is not simply to produce entrepreneurs, but to cultivate a generation of young people who approach their communities, their work, and their lives with an entrepreneurial.

Pillar 3: Grant Implementation 

We also serve as an implementing partner for donors and government agencies, providing structured access to finance for eligible businesses through end-to-end grant management. Our services include continuous monitoring and evaluation of project milestones, comprehensive technical assistance to beneficiaries, procurement verification for compliance and accountability, detailed tranche reporting on fund utilisation and impact, and ongoing adaptive support to maximise project outcomes.