Women’s Initiative will host Taking Flight with Your Business, a business conference and graduate reunion on October 21st at the Oakland Marriott. Would you like to join us as a Get Connected mentor? TV personality Jan Yanehiro and Mary Huss, publisher of the San Francisco Business Times will be masters of ceremony. Our Leadership Luncheon will honor Oakland entrepreneur Sandra Floyd, of Outsource Consulting Services, Inc. The event will be an opportunity for graduates to network with other businesses and vendors, and to get in-depth training on topics ranging from incorporating technology to business promotion. We are looking for volunteers, business experts, and event sponsors. If you are interested in any of these opportunities or would like more information about the event, please contact Heather Haxo Phillips hphillips@womensinitiative.org. For more information about Taking Flight with Your Business CLICK HERE.

Women’s Initiative Reception in Downtown Palo Alto
Please join us for a cocktail reception to learn more about Women's Initiative and its graduates. Thursday, September 22, 2005, 5:00 - 7:00pm in the lobby and garden of
245 Lytton Ave. (at Emerson). Event generously sponsored by Sand Hill Advisors and Borel Private Bank & Trust Company. We hope you can join us on September 22nd.
Please RSVP to Heather Haxo Phillips at hphillips@womensinitiative.org. For more information, CLICK HERE.

Celebrate at Stitch Lounge
Join Women's Initiative and its graduates to celebrate new opportunities for our lending program through a new partnership Comerica Bank. We want to share our success with you! Friday, October 7, 2005, 5:00 - 7:00pm at Stitch Lounge (182 Gough St. at Oak St., San Francisco). Owned by two Women's Initiative graduates, Melissa Alvarado and Hope Meng, Stitch Lounge was named "Best of the Area: Place to Sew" by San Francisco Magazine. Join us for this cocktail reception to learn more about Women's Initiative and our successful graduates. We will hear from Hope who was invited by Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez to represent San Francisco at this year's Minority Business Summit in Washington D.C. For more information, CLICK HERE.

When most people think of the digital divide, they imagine a lack of access to personal computers and other forms of technology. While this is an issue, the key to bridging the digital divide is not simply access. It is actually showing people how technology can be useful in their daily lives, and empowering them to use the tools they have at their fingertips. In a nation where only 12.7 percent of households with incomes of $15,000 or less are accessing the Internet, compared with 77.7 percent of households with incomes of $75,000 or more (Commerce Department, Aug. 2000) there is still many opportunities to expand the use of technology homes and businesses.

According to a recent Aspen Institute study there are 5.13 million women-owned microenterprises in the United States – very small businesses with five or less employees. Many of these small businesses are looking to integrate technology into their work to help with client communication, sales, record-keeping and other activities. For some entrepreneurs integrating a computer into business operations is scary. Nearly two years ago the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), the national association for microenterprise organizations, partnered with Hewlett-Packard to provide funding and support to microenterprise development organizations to expand their technology curriculum. Bill Edwards, AEO Executive Director, and Camilla Nelson (HP) recently visited with Women’s Initiative staff and clients about our unique approach to integrating technology in the classroom. During a lunchtime discussion Bill Edwards shared various nationwide best practice models that grant recipients have developed. One exemplary project by The Lakota Fund uses portable technology to train rural entrepreneurs to use business applications on computers. Residents of this South Dakota reservation would otherwise find it very difficult access a training program because of poor transportation and lack of nearby services. The New York Association for New Americans (NYANA) uses computers to assess skill levels of clients and tailors courses to those needs. They are able to align the trainings to the knowledge clients have about hardware, software, and micro-business technology needs.

Women’s Initiative has launched new curriculum to use technology to do market research, communicate with business clients and vendors, and create promotional material. Using technology to teach business, rather than teaching technology simply to teach technology adds value for Women’s Initiative clients. They develop business management skills and become tech-savvy simultaneously. Beyond using computers during training sessions, clients are encouraged to write technology into their business plans and the organization supports the purchase of technology through a loan fund. Last year Women’s Initiative provided seven loans to participants, in particular Spanish speakers, so that business owners can build technology into their lives. All these new technology models in the field of microenterprise development enable microenterprise training programs and micro-businesses to run more smoothly. It doesn’t mean that placing a PC at a training site makes that session more effective. The transformative power comes from what each person does with the technology to support their business.