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Please
accept my best wishes for a wonderful holiday
and a prosperous new year.
We
have much to be grateful at Women’s
Initiative. I am so very thankful to work with
such a tremendous team of dedicated and talented
people. Thank you for all of your support during
this year. Everyday I see how our work has
a greater impact than solely on the
women we serve. Their generosity and leadership
are building our communities. Did you know
our graduates donate an average of $500 a year
in cash contributions? That is pretty humbling
given that they enter our program at $14,000
a year in average household income. It has
challenged me to think about my own giving
history.
I am excited to share an update and some thoughts
about the microenterprise movement, both here
in the Bay Area and around the globe.
My trip to the Global Microcredit Summit,
Nova Scotia
Two weeks ago Muhammad Yunus accepted the
Nobel Peace Prize for his work inspiring
an entire movement to end poverty through
microfinancing, training and empowerment
of women. I had the honor to meet him at
the Global Microcredit Summit. He has an
aura of peace and caring that really moved
me. He underscored how important it is that
the movement continues to focus on the lowest
income people. His dream is that poverty
will be eradicated and only found in “poverty” museums.
He challenged a country to be the first to
step up to that goal. The U.S. could be that
country!
Shared Values from Bangladesh to the Bay Area
At Women’s Initiative we are in complete
alignment with Yunus’ vision. However
there are some differences in how it plays
out in practice. International efforts are
struggling to balance reaching scale and charging
increasingly high interest rates. The interest
rates are often far worst than the predatory
pay day lenders we are working to regulate
in California. Is it really enough just to
get cash in someone’s hands? Usually
microcredit sounds like a simple loan, but
in order for people to have success with it,
they must access training and support.
 Our mission at Women’s Initiative is
about economic self-sufficiency. We are committed
to long term, sustainable change in the woman’s
life but also we are committed to the impact
she has on her local community. The international
movement has yet to get their arms around how
to go beyond preventing starvation and harness
sustainable financial independence for women
and economic development for the community.
We will be stepping up to provide some support
and leadership for the international dialogue
in the next year given our results.
A Global Vision
Africa and Mexico are top priorities for the
movement. Africa is hard because AIDS is devastating
families and prosperity of regions. Many of
the African leadership at the Summit feel desperate
to make something happen. It is heartbreaking.
But of course there are glimmers of hope including
an agency called Jamii
Bora. The founder is
both respectful and loving of the thousands
of women with whom she works. In Mexico I am
reminded that in my own family we have had
numerous well-funded, women-owned businesses
that launched unsuccessfully. Without training
and support they floundered and eventually
folded. I am a believer in training AND access
to capital – it is a model
that works!
More growth in 2007
Thanks to our visionary leadership, we launched
Women’s Initiative classes in two new
counties this year; Marin and Contra Costa.
That means that we are debuting new women-owned
businesses at six different sites in four counties.
We have served 30% more women this year.
 These
additions are just the tip of the iceberg.
We plan to open in San Jose in early 2007.
There is enormous need in other areas, too.
In Contra Costa, we have already had 850 women
graduate from our program over the years. Over
the past few years in Marin there have been
70 women who have traveled to Oakland or San
Francisco twice weekly to take classes. And
right now we have women from Gilroy, San Jose
and Napa traveling to our Oakland classroom.
That is dedication to a dream, but what if
we could bring our services closer to them?
That is exactly what we plan to do.
Our lending has reached a volume that is
considered “self-sustaining” in
the field. We have hundreds of current loans.
We have helped women build their assets for
home ownership, education and business capitalization
through our IDA program. These savers together
have put aside $127,500, which means that
$382,407 is available to grow their assets.
We integrated computers and technical training
into the classroom. We received a Cisco Innovation
in Technology award for our efforts. Our
loan fund supports the technology training
by providing quick access to small loans
for computers. We have facilitated loans
to a dozen women to purchase a computer,
which is quite remarkable given that many
had never touched a computer until being
in the Women's Initiative program.
I am honored to work with you. Each of you
has contributed so very much to building
our organization, our community and culture.
My best to you and your family during this
holiday season. Thank you for your continued
generosity and partnership.
Best,
Julie Castro Abrams
CEO
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