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2009 Women of Action event honors 3 women who have distinguished themselves for their success, innovation and generosity.
Women's Initiative honored three Bay Area business leaders, including two Women's Initiative graduates, at the organization's annual Award Celebration on May 13 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Janet Lamkin, President of Bank of America California, received the Founders' Award. Graduate, Alison Barakat, owner of Bakesale Betty in Oakland and Josey White, owner of The Front Porch restaurant in San Francisco.
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| Guests enjoying the Women's Initiative 2009 Celebration |
650 of the most influential people in business spent a fantastic evening that started with shopping with 30 different Women's Initiative graduate vendors selling everything from Mixcoatl jewelry to Camelia Mexican handcrafts. Every guest was given a gift from a Women's Initiative graduate including: barbeque sauce, sterling silver jewelry, candles, pickles, jams and salsas. You can find these and many other graduates on our "Orange Pages".
Women's Initiative received nominations of women who have been great leaders and particularly long time supporters and generous promoters of entrepreneurship for low income women - and Women's Initiative. We recognized these Women of Action at the event.
Over 200 New Entrepreneurs Launched In the Last Month
Thanks to our support so far this year, we had over 200 women graduate in the last month. These new entrepreneurs, are going to create up to 600 new jobs!
Given that the entire economic stimulus package has only created 150,000 jobs, we are very seriously asking you to join us in storming Washington with a message that there needs to be a new strategy. Stimulus funding, grant funding, is going to the same old sources in the same old pathways. If you would like to join our policy efforts, contact Liz DeRenzy at ederenzy@womensinitiative.org
Graduates were celebrated with elected officials and influential leaders who saluted them.
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| Jennifer Siebel Newsom with Women's Initiative Graduate Magda Aguirre at the May 4th San Francisco Graduation. |
•Oakland, April 28, 10 Graduates, Claudia Guadagne of FMG Architects
•San Francisco, May 4, 41 Graduates, Jennifer Siebel Newsom
•Oakland, May 7, 28 Graduates, Nicole Taylor, CEO, East Bay Community Foundation
•Oakland, May 28, 26 Graduates, Nancy Rupprecht of Grandma’s Grage
•Concord, May 20, 31 Graduates, Sylvia Luneau, President & CEO of PsiNapse Staffing
•Concord, May 27, 21 Graduates, Jose Guerra, Doctor de los Motores on 1010 Radio and Owner of Jose’s Auto Service
•San Jose , June 10, 67 Graduates, Maryles Casto, CEO, Casto Travels
•Novato, June 10, 31 Graduates, Alison Davis, Managing Dir, Belvedere Capital Partners
Women's Initiative - Microenterprise/Microfinance Fellowship Program
"What drew me to Women's Initiative is the fact that the organization acts as a guide for women to make changes to their own lives in a way they are passionate about. Through WI, women improve their economic situations and give back to their communities by using their interests, their intelligence, their skills and their experiences to form businesses that are unique to them."
- Arrin Kaplan, Microenterprise Fellow
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In this photo 2009 Women's Initiative Summer Fellows : Barbara Barza, Arrin Kaplan, Angela Nguyen, Yocupitzia Oseguera, Jeanette Park, Nick Takamine, Sharon Troy, Lyn Davis, Mariane Jauregui
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The Women’s Initiative Fellowship Program gives both seasoned professionals and recent graduates the opportunity to gain experience in microenterprise and microfinance and make important contributions to this exciting and ever-growing field. Ten fellowships are awarded to people sincerely dedicated to building the entrepreneurial capacity of women to overcome social and economic barriers, giving greater hope to the cause of social equity.
Throughout this intensive program, the fellows learn the fundamentals of microenterprise development and non-profit management and specialize in areas such as finance and micro lending, development, marketing, program development, research and public policy, and strategic planning.
By giving the fellows hands-on experience in an environment that requires diligence and passion, the program develops their leadership skills and instills a deep admiration of service for the greater good. They will be part of a movement that works to counter the effects of national crisis and economic recession, to help low-income women establish their own businesses and become truly self-sufficient.
The Women’s Initiative is now accepting nominations for fall fellows. Interested parties should visit http://www.womensinitiative.org/getinvolved/job-opportunities.htm, click on the link for the fellowship, and submit an application.
Read more about the 2009 Summer Fellows
Women Around the World and How We Fare…
We have been waiting for the numbers and once again the U.S. is far behind other countries in the gender gap analysis. We are 31st. Click here to read more
We consistently get reports from UC Irvine that women are under represented in the corporate board rooms and in top corporate positions. LINK Women are increasingly seeking entrepreneurship as an option so that they can make their own income. Today women owned businesses make up 60% of all privately held companies in California.
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Graduate Spotlight
 Phuong Quach is a successful entrepreneur, an active member of the Women's Initiative Silicon Valley Board who raised $50,000 last year AND, a graduate of Women’s Initiative.
Her passion for spreading the word about the benefits of Women’s Initiative’s business training courses and ongoing support started nearly 10 years ago when she participated in and graduated from the Women’s Initiative “Making Sense of Your Business” business training course (now called Simple Steps and ALAS in Spanish).
Phuong had been growing increasingly unhappy in her position as a high tech sales engineer, so she decided it was time to start her own business. She wanted to work directly with clients but wasn’t sure where to begin. A visit to the local Small Business Administration led her to Women’s Initiative where Phuong learned important lessons on starting and running a business. Prior to the course she was thinking of opening a local coffee house but after what she learned about running a business she decided to pursue her long term interest in financial planning.
“In running your own business, it’s very important to manage your profit and loss. This is not something you learn as an employee but is a critical need for business owners. From the Women’s Initiative courses I learned about managing P&L statements as well as business planning techniques that I still use today in running my independent business.”
Phuong got motivated to get involved again with Women’s Initiative over 3 years ago when she attended the annual awards celebration where recent graduates shared compelling stories, often from those with less fortunate backgrounds. With her roots in Silicon Valley, Phuong believed that it was important to open a local office in San Jose to serve women who were unable to drive to San Francisco due to the extra time commitment that would be involved.
Phuong joined the Women’s Initiative Silicon Valley Board to help the Women’s Initiative team make the San Jose office a reality. Phuong is now working towards fund raising to get more clients involved in the business training program, more SuccessLink services, and more support, encouraging clients to stay as long as possible with the Women’s Initiative program as they grow their businesses. Phuong has seen first-hand that too many entrepreneurs fail without an ongoing support network and feels strongly that Women’s Initiative services can provide this support.
Phuong noted that especially in today’s economic downturn, with the worsening income disparity and poverty levels in San Jose, it’s even more critical to develop local resources like Women’s Initiative to help women build their businesses.
As Phuong said, “If you teach a man to fish, he’ll feed his family. If you teach a woman to fish, she’ll feed a village.”
- Barbara Barza, Microenterprise Fellow
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Recent Awards
Women’s Initiative for Self Employment, the Bay Area nonprofit which provides business training and access to capital to empower low-income women to launch their own businesses, is the recipient of three prestigious state and national awards. The awards include:
 2009 Family Strengthening Award, NCLR (National Council of La Raza)
NCLR, the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, in partnership with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, will present three community organizations, including Women’s Initiative, with a Family Strengthening Award for the organization’s programs which have had a measurable impact in strengthening Latino families. Along with the award, representatives from Women’s Initiative will receive a cash prize of $16,500. In addition, representatives from Women’s Initiative will lead a workshop at the NCLR Annual Conference, July 25-27 in Chicago, showcasing the organization’s best practices to other community-based organizations. For more information, visit www.nclr.org.
2009 California Affiliate of the Year, NCLR (National Council of La Raza)
Women’s Initiative has been selected as NCLR California Affiliate of the Year, one of four regional honors given to affiliate organizations for exemplary work in serving its local community and for supporting NCLR’s policy and programmatic initiatives. In addition to the award, Women’s Initiative will receive a $5,000 cash prize.
Finalist, 2009 Leadership Awards, James Irvine Foundation
The James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards recognize California leaders who are advancing innovative and effective solutions to significant state issues. Women’s Initiative CEO Julie Castro Abrams was a finalist for the award. The organization received a $25,000 cash prize. For more information about the Leadership Awards, visit www.irvine.org/leadership/leadership-awards
 Women's Initiative's CEO Julie Castro Abrams receives four honors for her contributions to Bay Area women and small business.
She was honored by the League of Women Voters as a “Woman Who Could Be President”, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums “Woman of Greatness”, the San Francisco Business Times “Most Influential Woman”, and the Small Business Administration “Small Business Advocate of the Year”.
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Policy Call to Action
Congress is beginning to draft its 2010 funding priorities.
The Appropriations Subcommittees are considering President Obama's budget request and requests from constituents as they decide specific allocations for programs that serve low-income individuals and families.
E-mail, write or call your legislators to support funding for asset-building programs. The Capitol switchboard number is 202.224.3121. Click TAKE ACTION to send an e-mail.
Support programs at the following levels:
$24 million for Assets for Independence (AFI) which has helped 62,000 IDA participants save for asset-building purchases. AFI has been nearly fully funded in the past eight years.
$50 million for Microloans to provide small loans to startup, newly established, or growing small businesses. Under this microloan program, SBA makes funds available to nonprofit community-based lenders (intermediaries) which, in turn, make loans to eligible borrowers in amounts ranging from $500 to $35,000.
$20 million for Microloan TA to provide technical assistance (TA) or business counseling for microloan recipients.
$15 million for PRIME to provide grants to community-based organizations to offer training and technical assistance to the nation's low-income entrepreneurs. The program facilitates the provision of capacity building services to microenterprise development organizations. It is the only SBA program to specifically target very low-income entrepreneurs.
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Women's Initiative Policy Paper
Our research demonstrates that when given access to training, capital and business networks, low-income women can start and grow prosperous businesses - especially during times of economic recession! In fact, President Obama has announced that 70% of all new job growth will take place in small businesses. Women’s Initiative clients are starting businesses that will stay in our communities, hiring locally and becoming leaders and philanthropists in their communities.
CALL TO ACTION: Support Women Entrepreneurs and local economic recovery
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Upcoming Events
San Mateo Graduation
Please join Women's Initiative for a graduation celebration of fifty-eight entrepreneurs!
Wednesday, July 1st 2009
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Wells Fargo Location
305 Walnut St.
Redwood City, CA
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For more information, please contact Ruth Elizondo at relizondo@womensinitiative.org
You are invited to join us for a Women's Initiative Client Business Tour!
Experience first hand how Women's Initiative graduates are starting and growing Businesses and transforming our communities. Come witness local economic stimulus through microenterprise development and learn about the Women's Initiative business training program for women.
July 15, 4:30 – 7:00pm, San Francisco includes dinner at the Front Porch: contact Lily Laurence at llaurence@womensinitiative.org.
Save the Date!
 July 29, 2009 Next Women's Initiative Connect Event in Marin County.
Women's Initiative hosts Connect Events to help our graduates improve their networking and entrepreneurial skills to further grow their businesses. These events are an excellent opportunity to connect successful business professionals like yourself with Women's Initiative graduates. These up-and-coming women entrepreneurs are eager to meet with you and learn from your business experience and expertise.
Details to follow...
For information please contact Emma Maack at emaack@womensinitiative.org
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Get Involved!
Volunteer Opportunities
Women's Initiative values the
contributions of volunteers and is committed to a partnership between staff and volunteers to move our organization forward and support our programs. We match volunteer projects to your skills and interests.
Volunteers bring talent, skills, knowledge, and passion and help our organization be cutting edge in the microenterprise field.
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July is Microenterprise Month in California – take action today!