Initiatives
We believe every young woman deserves the chance to succeed.
In celebration of our 50th Anniversary, King’s Trust USA is proud to launch Women Supporting Women, a national campaign dedicated to empowering young women across the United States. Our goal is to raise $50,000 to expand access to life-changing programs that build confidence, skills, and real pathways into employment, self-employment, and education.
The need is urgent.
Young women in the U.S. are twice as likely to be out of work compared to young men. Behind that statistic are real young women with ambition, creativity, and resilience — but without access to opportunity.
For those who were already vulnerable before the pandemic — facing long-term unemployment, mental health challenges, housing insecurity, instability at home or school — the barriers can feel overwhelming.
Women Supporting Women exists to change that story.
We are aiming to raise $50,000 to unlock opportunities nationwide. Here’s how your investment translates into impact:
$500
provides a Development Award to remove practical barriers to employment.
$1,200
supports one young woman through our Get Hired or Enterprise Challenge program.
$5,000
funds an entire team of young women through Enterprise Challenge — empowering collective leadership and entrepreneurship.
Every gift is an investment in confidence, independence, and economic freedom.
Our Mission
To support, empower, and inspire young women to build a better future for themselves.
For 50 years, The King’s Trust has supported young people facing the greatest adversity to build the confidence and skills they need to live, learn, and earn. Around the world, and here in the U.S., our programs provide practical tools, mentorship, funding, and support that helps young women develop resilience, leadership, and belief in themselves.
When we invest in young women, the ripple effect strengthens families, communities, and the wider economy for years to come.
Donate
How You Can Get Involved
There are powerful ways to stand with young women — and every action makes a difference.
Give Personally
Partner Through Your Company
Fundraise With Purpose Turn your passion into impact.
However you choose to show up, you’ll be helping young women build confidence, independence, and a future filled with possibility. Together, we are building a movement — one that champions ambition, dismantles barriers, and ensures young women are not defined by circumstance.
Join Us
In honor of Women’s History Month, and as part of our 50th Anniversary year, we invite you to help shape the next 50 years of impact.
To learn more or discuss how you can support the campaign, please contact:
Alison Zayas at [email protected]
Together, we can open doors that change lives.
Our success stories show how access to skills, mentorship, and opportunity empowers women to build thriving businesses, strengthen their communities, and shape their own futures.
Fresh Faces
New York, USA
New York, USA
“Taking part in Enterprise Challenge has taught us life skills that we could use in the future if we wanted to start our own business.”
— Fresh Faces Team, 2024
Meet Fresh Faces, an all-girls team from the Bronx.
With support from The Trust, they launched a hygiene kit business to ensure their classmates — 18% of whom were experiencing homelessness — could access essential hygiene products at an affordable cost. As their business grew, they used profits to provide free kits to those who couldn’t afford them.
Their impact went beyond entrepreneurship. They built confidence, leadership, and a brighter vision for their own futures.
Shifa
Pakistan
Pakistan
Shifa has blossomed from a studious but shy student to an award-winning entrepreneur, designing an ingenious road safety device for hazardous fog.
Seventeen-year-old Shifa and her teammates won Enterprise Challenge Pakistan 2026 with their groundbreaking business idea of a device that converts fog to electricity, powering street lighting to cut road accidents in fog-prone regions.
Previously shy and hesitant to contribute her ideas, today Shifa sees herself as a leader and changemaker. Her award-winning all-girls team is now using their prize money to explore their potentially life-saving idea in real life.
‘Working on Nebulavolt made me realize that even students like us can solve national problems,’ Shifa explains. ‘To other young girls like me, I would say don’t underestimate yourself, because your ideas truly matter.’
Studious and academic, Shifa had nonetheless doubted herself and her abilities before she took part in Enterprise Challenge Pakistan (ECP). Naturally reserved, she found public speaking and leadership particularly challenging.
But the programme’s combination of structured training, mentorship and hands-on practice empowered Shifa to step up and shine, helping her boost her critical thinking, problem solving and presentation skills – and with them her confidence and self-belief. Drawing on these skills, Shifa led her team through the regional and national finals to eventually claim the coveted title.
‘This programme didn’t just teach me business – it changed how I see myself,’ Shifa explains. ‘Before ECP, I was afraid to speak on stage. Now I can confidently present an idea that could save lives.’
Arti
India
India
With few earnings options in her village, young mother Arti joined Project Lehar, run by the Aga Khan Foundation with support from The King’s Trust International.
Lehar offers vocational training, entrepreneurship and life skills courses for girls and young women from low-income backgrounds. Lehar introduced Arti to the Indian government’s Pink Rickshaw scheme, an initiative to provide rickshaws for female passengers, with female drivers.
Today, Arti works as a self-employed rickshaw driver, enabling other women to travel safely and earning enough to provide for her daughter. In May 2024, Arti won the prestigious Amal Clooney Women’s Empowerment Award for her determined efforts to drive change.
Stephanie
UK
UK
Stephanie, 28 age from Ballymoney, is the founder of SKYDANCE NI, a Zumba and aerial fitness business built to foster joy and connection. After facing mental health challenges and working long hours in hospitality, she left the industry in 2022 and joined The Trust’s Enterprise programme. With their support, she launched her business and now runs multiple weekly classes, including hula hoop and bungee fitness, creating a vibrant community where people feel seen and supported. Stephanie’s journey, from isolation and financial hardship to self-employment, fuels her mission to uplift others.
Today, she has a sustainable business plan, employs three staff and has big plans for the future. She continues to volunteer with a local organisation supporting unemployed young people and dreams of securing a long-term studio lease where she can host circus-style cabaret nights and expand her community even further.
Our Initiatives
