Women's Initiative: Where Dreams Become Thriving Businesses

Losing in the workforce: Inequities for women

There was an interesting article about women losing ground in the workplace.  Check it on in the New York Times, "Women Are Now Equal as Victims of Poor Economy" (July 22, 2008). Julie Castro Abrams, CEO of Women's Initiative, had the opportunity to respond the to report on CBS 5 nightly news (July 21) in a segment called "Women Losing Ground in the Workforce."  She comments on the link between low wages and women starting their own businesses.  Also Emily Murase from the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women appears in the news segment.  Let us know what you think.

Prop 209 Impact on Minority Businesses

I went to a great symposium in Los Angeles on Friday looking at the impact of Prop 209 on government contracts with disadvantaged entrepreneurs (women and minority owned businesses) and the impact on higher education. You can get more information about this event at Impact209.org

When Prop 209 passed I had just moved to CA and was focused on how it affected affirmative action and outreach programs for minorities in higher education, so it was great to get a perspective on how it changed government contracting.

One of the stand-out papers presented was how there are ways to work around Prop 209 to still have race-conscious programs with government contracting. Tim Lohrentz (of Insight Center formerly NEDLC) presented about how businesses that benefited from the affirmative action programs adjusted their business plans and for the most part have been able to thrive despite Prop 209.

Where it might be hurting is for businesses trying to get into the contract game (some Women's Initiative graduates might be ready for this!) Bernida Reagan, Port of Oakland, presented at one of the sessions and mentioned Women's Initiative for Self Employment several times as an example of how the Port partners to have a program that worked with minority and women business owners. The Port has a Local Business Owner program which is how they get around the language of Prop 209 so that it isn’t creating goals around race or gender.

We know from outside reports that women and minority businesses are growing at staggering rates. In the South Bay we know Latino-owned businesses are really taking off. However, across the board we are dramatically underutilizing WBEs and MBEs and the symposium had quantitative and anecdotal information to illustrate this point. The symposium brought up for me what more we can do for our clients to let them know about government contracting beyond the seminars that we offer. Is there something more we can do with the Port of Oakland to get our clients on a trajectory to be vendors at the Oakland Airport? For some of our clients it is a matter of opportunity recognition about knowing what is possible for their business.

Another interesting talk was about how Prop 209 has negatively impacted the workforce where minorities are disproportionately employed in the public sector, especially education and public defense. The presenter argued that Prop 209 also created a diminished appreciation for diversity in the workplace as we moved to a “color-blind” model of hiring.  This is all great information to keep in our minds as we recruit and hire new employees.

Another presenter shared startling facts: 10 years ago CA had the largest number of black-owned businesses and now we are ranked third. Black families are moving from CA. Also in the 1980s Santa Clara had more black execs than any county in the nation, but today that isn’t true. Doesn’t this hit home to why our work with minority women business owners is so critical?

Globally things are happening around affirmative action, often called “positive action.”  I heard presentations about work that is happening in Brazil and France around creating race-conscious programs. I have a stack of papers (many academic, looking at different aspects of Prop 209’s impact) from the conference that I probably won’t be able to slog through.  If you are interested in seeing the material or hearing more, just email me.

---Justina Cross, Women's Initiative Marketing Communications Manager

Eat Local Week

I read a great blurb in the paper today about Eat Local Week which focuses on eating food grown and produced within 250 miles drive of San Francisco.

A very cool idea! I have friends who try and adhere to eating local all year long which is very admirable. We all know that cost and energy used directly relates to distribution of the food we eat…the farther it is from our home, the more energy it takes to get it into our hot little hands.

During Eat Local Week - next week, Sept. 23-29 - more than two dozen restaurants and stores will feature local foods and ingredients.

The week was conceived by Jordanna Thigpen, vice president of the city's Small Business Commission.

"By taking an Eat Local approach to our shopping and dining decisions," Thigpen said, "we can create a sustainable economy where less fuel is used in getting food to your table and the majority of dollars we spend stays in our community."

I visited the Eat Local SF website and discovered that we have three graduates participating in the week: Guisell Osorio of Sabores Del Sur, Andrea Doffing of Mirabai Chocolates, and Maria del Carmen of Estrellita Snacks. They all have such delicious food, and I encourage you to patronize their businesses for Eat Local Week starting Sept. 23.

-- Justina Cross, Women's Initiative Marketing Communications Manager