WWU's Kristi Tyran to speak tonight on helping girls in rural Kenya through income-generating projects

Kristi Tyran, an associate professor in the Management Department at Western Washington University, will present “Alleviating Poverty through Management Education: Helping Graduates of a Rural Girls Secondary School in Kenya through Income Generating Projects” as part of the Turning Points faculty lecture series.

Tyran's presentation is the second installment for this academic year of the series and will take place at 5:15 p.m. in Communications Facility Room 110 on campus. All Turning Points lectures are free and open to the public.

Young women in Africa are considered the most high-risk population for poverty and AIDS. As women graduate from secondary school, they are well-educated but have few prospects for career and post-secondary education opportunities. How can management education be used to help these young women leave poverty after they graduate?

Tyran visited the Ombogo Girls Academy in Homa Bay, Kenya, in 2008 and 2009 and worked with administrators, teachers and students to develop ideas for how to utilize management education to assist girls to be more successful and self-sustaining after they graduate.

One method endorsed by the school is the development of income-generating projects to raise money for the school and provide students with an opportunity to learn how to manage and sustain a small enterprise. As students assist in planning and implementing the projects, they learn key skills in leadership, management, organization and planning, interpersonal relationships and marketing. By developing management skills, girls increase their chance for success in future business endeavors.

This presentation will provide an overview of the literature on management education and the alleviation of poverty, a description of the Tyran's research and a summary of the progress made so far in developing income generating projects and management training for graduating students at Ombogo.

Tyran's research interests focus on exploring the roles of values, emotion and technology.