Women's Initiative: Where Dreams Become Thriving Businesses

Women's Initiative in the SF Chronicle

If it looks like Julie (to the right) is throwing up her hands in delight, well, that's how we all feel at Women's Initiative this week!

The San Francisco Chronicle dedicated a wonderful, front-page, Sunday edition article to Women's Initiative last Sunday.

Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to make you see yourself anew:

Julie Castro Abrams, the organization's chief executive officer, said 68 percent of graduates are in business within 12 months of completing the 10-week program, which costs $100, although a sliding scale means the applicants most in need pay less.

"A couple years later, they're too busy to return our phone calls," Abrams joked. "But they send checks and volunteer, or they come to be guest speakers and tell other women how to do it."

The agency has served more than 16,000 women in two decades. The average client is 41 years old, and 78 percent are women of color. Twenty-nine percent are single mothers, 15 percent have a disability, and 46 percent speak Spanish as their first or only language - which is why Women's Initiative offers programs in Spanish. All of the women are struggling, with an average household income of only $13,000 a year, and some are illiterate.

"Low-income women in particular have a whole set of issues about their self-perception and some of those demons that have become roadblocks for them in the past," Abrams said. "We help them visualize and get rid of them - like not pricing themselves appropriately because they don't think they're worth it, or giving themselves all the million reasons in the world not to go out and shake a hand or make sales because they're terrified."

The organization, which has a $4.9 million budget this year, relies on donations from foundations, corporations, government and individuals. In 2007, Women's Initiative made 160 loans to clients to help with their businesses, totaling $311,363 and ranging from $1,000 to $25,000.

In San Francisco last year, eight graduates received first-time leaseholder grants of $9,000 apiece, with the assistance of the Mayor's Office of Community Development, to help overcome a frequent problem: prohibitively high commercial rents.

The article also contained some praise from a peer:

Bob Graham, founder of NamasteDirect, a microcredit organization in San Francisco, said people often ask him if microcredit is being done anywhere in the United States as successfully as it is in much of the developing world.

"I always reply that it is, in a few cases," he said. "And the best example is Women's Initiative. It has a track record second to none."

Can you see us blushing?

You can read the whole thing for yourself here. And please talk back to us in the comments below! What did you think of the article? What would you add if you were writing it?

Get The Message Out!

A wise colleague told me this week that she doesn’t make resolutions, she creates a theme for the year. So here is our theme for the year; GET THE MESSAGE OUT!

Housing foreclosures, poverty at an all time high, inflation outpacing income and women and people of color clearly hurting the most: it is urgent that we immediately, loudly and with great conviction, address the issues of poverty and discrimination.

It wakes me up at night, the drive to get the message out – this works! Low income women of color are great assets which are underutilized. The looming deficit in California hangs heavy but it is unnecessary.

Women’s Initiative is watching our economic return on investment results go up every year. Every year we are more effective in helping women turn a small investment in their dreams into big returns for the local economy.

Want to change society? Invest in a low income woman entrepreneur and you can turn the tide of an entire economy!

GET THE MESSAGE OUT!

The Conspiracy of the Poor

Barbara Ehrenreich just came out with a terrific blog post about the crisis among the American poor today.

In classic Ehrenreich style, she takes the issues head on with a critical new look at the current market situation. Tongue in cheek, she suggests that perhaps there is a conspiracy among the poor who took out high risk mortgages, lived in houses they couldn’t afford, and stopped shopping at Walmart and Home Depot last month all in an effort to get back at the “man”.

Somewhere in the Hamptons a high-roller is cursing his cleaning lady and shaking his fists at the lawn guys. The American poor, who are usually tactful enough to remain invisible to the multi-millionaire class, suddenly leaped onto the scene and started smashing the global financial system. Incredibly enough, this may be the first case in history in which the downtrodden manage to bring down an unfair economic system without going to the trouble of a revolution.

First they stopped paying their mortgages, a move in which they were joined by many financially stretched middle class folks, though the poor definitely led the way. ... Then, in a diabolically clever move, the poor – a category which now roughly coincides with the working class – stopped shopping. Both Wal-Mart and Home Depot announced disappointing second quarter performances, plunging the market into another Arctic-style meltdown. H. Lee Scott, CEO of the low-wage Wal-Mart empire, admitted with admirable sensitivity, that “it’s no secret that many customers are running out of money at the end of the month.”

Banking for the poor has been heralded as a new revolution with Grameen Bank leading the way. We are hitting a wall in the U.S. because of over-extending credit and predatory practices with the poor. There are even fewer controls in place internationally.

We must take a hard look at the market problem of making money off of the backs of poor people; this includes paying wages that are unsustainable and the “throw-away” culture. There is a place at the table for everyone – there must be or our humanity is truly at risk. -- Julie Castro Abrams

Meet Julie Castro-Abrams

My name is Julie Castro Abrams. I am the CEO of Women's Initiative for Self Employment. I have worked in social justice and as an agent for change for 20 years. When I found Women's Initiative nearly 6 years ago, I felt like it was the convergence of everything I believed in, and I have felt even more inspired every day.

Women's Initiative is the most successful poverty alleviation strategy around. Across the globe, every major effort to impact health and economics is focused on women because there is a clear correlation to children's health and education. Women are more likely to be committed to every extra dollar going to feed and support their children. Women are also more likely to live in poverty. Working mothers are in fact the largest population using food banks and community kitchens.

Yes, that's right. They are working and doing everything we want them to do and they can't make ends meet. Minimum wage cannot meet the financial needs of a family, definitely not in the Bay Area. While it can take months or even longer to get up and running with a business, the long term financial gains for women are tremendous and far out pace working for someone else. Women build assets in addition to their income growth ... meaning they will be able to find long term financial health.

Owning a business can be a powerful option for women who are experiencing challenges such as a disability, family care responsibilities or even women recovering from domestic violence. You can set your own hours and be your own boss. I owned my own business when I had my first child for just this reason. And it worked really well for a few years ... except I didn't have the Women's Initiative training and didn't set it up correctly. Oh what I would give to have known then what I know now.

Julie Castro Abrams, CEO poses with Muhammad Yunus, 2005 Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Karen August (Women's Initiative business trainer) at the 2007 AEO conference in Kansas City.

I had the opportunity to meet Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammad Yunus twice this year. He has inspired and perhaps even changed me each time. He is such a strategic and big thinker who is completely committed to ending poverty. He wants to see poverty in a museum, and therefore knows we must think and act BIG. We need to change the way business is done.

Yunus expresses that perhaps the model of business has been set up incorrectly… it only focuses on profits. In reality, we are so much more as human beings than just profit. He is championing a new stock market where the dividends are social impact. You can invest your money and the return is ending poverty in a region, curing a sickness. This is powerful thinking and I hope it inspires you as it has inspired me.

I love the community found at Women's Initiative. Everyone goes the extra mile. People work and live with integrity. It is an honor to be part of it. I hope you find something that brings you in as well.