The system calls it networking.
We call it a whole
socioeconomic shift.
Our Story / 01
Big Girl Job began in 2023 with one mentorship relationship and one refusal: a young woman’s future should not be decided by socio-economic background.
SOFT POWER. HARD ACCESS ———
ILO, 2022; World Bank Gender Data Portal, 2023.
THE REALITY
Talent is everywhere
Across Sierra Leone, young women are working hard, but too often outside paid, protected and scalable pathways. A degree does not always come with a way in.
BGJ exists for women with the talent, drive and ambition—but not yet the rooms, references or relationships that make careers move.
95.4%
of women’s employment is informal.
Access is not.
4.7%
of employed women are in wage or salaried work.
THE BEGINNING / O2
It started with a big sister.
BGJ was born from a single mentorship relationship: career guidance, stronger applications, a portfolio, proximity to a workplace—and a woman willing to say her mentee’s name in rooms she could not yet enter.
It proved something simple: unemployment is not only a skills gap. It is an access gap.
Each
One,
Plug
One
One sisterhood. A different trajectory.
Meet Hickmatu
Before Big Girl Job had a name, our Founder, Mariama Wurie began mentoring Hickmatu Leigh through the Aurora Foundation in 2021. Together, they did the work talent alone cannot unlock: career planning, CVs, cover letters, a portfolio, interview confidence and direct access to networks across the UN system, the World Bank, Purposeful, NGOs and creative spaces. That access led Hickmatu to a year-long Purposeful art residency, Women Deliver 2023, and photography and film contracts with the World Bank, UNICEF and King’s College. Today, she is Executive Director of A.W.A.T.S. and the producer of GBOROKA, her award-winning and globally critically acclaimed first feature film. She is also the Digital Lead at BBC Media Action. Seeing what one relationship could make possible, Mariama replicated the model with five more young women from underserved communities, who are also first-generation university graduates. Every woman in the six-person pilot became the first in her family to secure formal work or an income pathway, including roles at MBSSE, UN WFP, Ecobank and Innovation SL. That is how one mentorship became Big Girl Job.
Hickmatu Leigh!
Our first mentee, whose story became our proof.
WHAT A PLUG CHANGES / O3
A plug is
more than
a contact
It is the preparation, proximity and belief that turns potential into possibility—and a person willing to make the introduction that changes the direction of a career.
01
02
03
Get Ready
Career plans, self-esteem building clinics, CV and cover letter development, portfolio development, practical skills building, apprentice-led learning, interview practice, high-level event access and real project-based learning.
Get Connected
Mentors support mentees in developing their own networks to foster introductions and references for roles, leading to placements and access to decisionmakers.
Keep Going
Ongoing coaching, care and practical support help mentees stay, grow and lead after the first door opens.
6/6
pilot mentees became the first women in their families to secure formal employment, contracts or income pathways.
3/6
have travelled internationally for work or higher education.
∞
new possibilities for the sisters, cousins, daughters and neighbours watching what comes next.
THE PROOF / O4
Six women.
Six firsts.
Our first pilot showed what becomes possible when young women are given sustained belief, practical support and direct access to professional networks.
The story continues / 05
We are building the ecosystem we deserve.
IN DEVELOPMENT
Mu Studio & Sister
Honey Pot
A digital storefront designed to help women entrepreneurs reach wider markets. Profits support a hardship fund designed so crisis does not force a woman to abandon her path.
Creative Research & Advocacy 4 Justice
IN DEVELOPMENT
The Bigirljob
Summit
A program addressing the data gap on the unique challenges women face in gaining dignified work, platformed through multisensory storytelling and legal advocacy.
BGJ’s story is just . We are developing a wider ecosystem around mentorship so access does not end with a first job offer—and so more women can build careers, income and influence on their own terms.
ON THE HORIZON
A career-access intervention built to put young women and real opportunity in the same room. Day one features a speaker series, live entertainment and wellness activities. Day two features CV clinics and career fair kiosks with real employers.