Center of Evidence-based Entrepreneurship Development (CEED)

Welcome to the CEED newsletter, covering the latest news on the Student Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP) and Personal Initiative (PI) training!

If you want to contribute, please contact us via our CEED e-mail.

This newsletter informs you on a quarterly basis about current events, projects, and the implementation of both our training programs STEP and PI. On top of sharing news from our side, we would like to encourage you to contribute to this newsletter so that we can establish it as a medium for mutual updates. Because just like us, you’re gaining valuable experiences with the training programs. In fact, you run great projects that always amaze us and that the whole community should know about!

Topics of this Newsletter

• PI Chatbot: An Innovation to Strengthen Long-Term Impact
• Research: Recent Publication in Journal of Applied Psychology
• Kenya: First Long-Term Evaluation of STEP S
• Mozambique: Adaptation and Testing of a Personal Initiative Training for the ADIGR Program 

PI Chatbot: An Innovation to Strengthen Long-Term Impact

Move-eti has launched the PI Chatbot, now in its beta testing phase, as part of its commitment to extending the impact of the Personal Initiative methodology.
This digital tool is designed to complement face-to-face trainings and coaching, helping beneficiaries, such as women, youth, entrepreneurs, and professionals, apply PI principles in real-life situations.
The chatbot addresses a common challenge in training programs: ensuring continuous support after initial sessions. It provides on-demand coaching, helping participants reflect, overcome challenges, and reinforce their learning when trainers are not immediately available. 

Rather than replacing traditional training, the chatbot enhances its reach and long-term impact by offering ongoing support.
We invite you to join the beta phase and help shape the future of this tool. Simply send an email to info@move-eti.com to get started.
Having already supported over 50,000 beneficiaries across 25+ countries, move-eti is excited to see how the PI Chatbot can strengthen learning outcomes and ensure sustainable impact.

Research: Recent Publication in Journal of Applied Psychology

Why are entrepreneurship training programs that simply boost participants’ confidence oftentimes ineffective in the long term? In their recent article published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, K. Jakob Weers and Michael M. Gielnik investigate different patterns of the development of entrepreneurial confidence after an action-oriented entrepreneurship training implemented in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Mexico with more than 1,000 participants. They found that the training program boosted participants’ confidence in the short term, but this boost did not necessarily lead to business creation one year after the training program. Only over time, when the participants developed a robust and resilient form of confidence through engaging in entrepreneurial activities, they could leverage their confidence to be successful in business creation. In conclusion, boosting training participants’ confidence is not sufficient. It is more important to develop a robust and stable form of confidence that is resilient to the experiences of setbacks and obstacles in the entrepreneurial process in order to lead to success in entrepreneurship.

Reference: Weers, K. J., & Gielnik, M. M. (2026). Stability matters: A dynamic process view on self-efficacy in training transfer. Journal of Applied Psychology, 111(4), 534–548. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001330 
 

Kenya: First Long-Term Evaluation of STEP S

As part of the DAAD-funded SDG Partnerships project, the first of two long-term evaluations of the STEP Sustainability program is currently being conducted at Mount Kenya University, Kenya (Thika). Over 170 undergraduate students have already participated in this follow-up assessment. The evaluation takes place approximately one year after the sustainable entrepreneurship training was implemented in 2024. Early results from the short-term evaluation conducted immediately after training completion are promising. Compared to non-trainees, training group participants identify 29% more business opportunities, report 6% higher entrepreneurial confidence, plan 11% and perform 12% more entrepreneurial activities. Regarding sustainability-specific outcomes, trainees identify 14% more sustainable opportunities and show a 7% higher sustainable entrepreneurial confidence. The analysis of the data from the first long-term evaluation will reveal whether these effects have been sustained over time.

Mozambique: Adaptation and Testing of a Personal Initiative Training for the ADIGR Program

Together with our partners GiveDirectly, we at Doorways will adapt and test a short version of the Personal Initiative training for beneficiaries in Mozambique who are part of the ADIGR (Support for the Development of Income Generation Initiatives) program. The ADIGR program will be implemented throughout the country and is coordinated by the National Institute of Social Action (INAS). Its main aim is to improve the means of livelihoods and economic self-sufficiency and food security of the targeted beneficiaries through the development of sustainable income-generating activities, asset accumulation, access to financial markets and services, and gender equality.

Starting in late April, we will conduct Training-the-Trainer (TTT) workshops with GiveDirectly in Beira and Maputo and continue to train INAS staff in the southern and central region of the country.

We look forward to this exciting new project and to returning to Mozambique to work with old and new partners on improving the livelihoods in the country.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your feedback and thoughts to ceed@leuphana.de.

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