Women's Initiative e-Newsletter

August 31, 2005
Join Women's Initiative and its graduates to celebrate Microenterprise Development Month and the power of micro-lending. Comerica Bank has made a 250K capital investment in our revolving loan fund. Learn what that means for San Francisco.

Friday, October 7, 2005
5:00 - 7:00pm
Stitch Lounge
182 Gough Street (at Oak Street)
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 to speak in Washington D.C. at a minority business conference.

Founded in 1988, Women's Initiative assists low-income women of diverse ethnic and social backgrounds in becoming economically self-sufficient through entrepreneurial activities. Our organization has proven that women create jobs for themselves and others, access the mainstream economy, and increase financial self-sufficiency when they are given business planning and financing support.

Women's Initiative graduates have started over 1,900 businesses from photography studios to catering companies and mechanic shops.

Women's Initiative tracks participant outcomes and finds that women dramatically increase their incomes, with the average and median incomes of the participants increasing by 85% within 18 months following completion of our comprehensive business management training. During our history, Women's Initiative for Self Employment has served more than 13,000 women. Through our revolving loan fund, we have disbursed over $800,000 to our clients.

We hope you can join us on October 7th.

Please RSVP to Heather Haxo Phillips at hphillips@womensinitiative.org or 415.641.3461.

Women's Initiative - a different kind of lender

Approximately 10% of our graduates will get loans from Women’s Initiative that they could not get anywhere else. In order for our clients’ businesses to grow and be successful, access to capital is essential. Start-up capital is often not accessible to low-income women because of their credit history, short time in business and lack of owner’s capital investment.

We offers three different types of loans: Seed Loans (up to $1,000) – for clients who are exploring their idea for starting a business, Start-up Loans (up to $10,000) – for clients who are just starting their business and need help with initial costs, Operating Loans (up to $25,000) – for established businesses that need capital for expansion.

Our loan fund is unique. While we look at clients’ credit histories, we also know the clients personally because they have been in our classes and we have watched them grow. Our business trainers take time to walk prospective loan fund participants through the application process during one-on-one consultations.

For many of our clients in the ALAS program, accessing our loan fund is the first step to establishing credit in this country. Our loan applications are available in Spanish and English and our ALAS graduates connect with a Spanish-speaking business trainer to support them through the loan process. After a loan is approved, we continue to support our graduates by conducting on-going technical assistance, even after graduates have paid back loans.

Zakiya Harris, owner of IRE Clothing
A recipient of our $10,000 start-up loan, Zakiya Harris is the owner of IRE Clothing, an eclectic line of clothing for men and women. With limited resources and an eye for fashion Zakiya graduated from Women's Initiative in 2004 and applied for the loan shortly after. She gives accolades to her small business trainer, who stuck with her through dozens of drafts of her business plan and inspired her to move slower and smarter through the loan process. Together they made sure her business plan was concrete so that Zakiya was confident enough in herself and her business to go before the loan committee. With her start up loan Zakiya bought equipment for her home office, including a computer and a printer, along with the necessary sewing equipment and materials for making samples of her products to show to sales reps in the Bay Area and New York. Zakiya also employs a pattern maker and is committed to a fair wage and good working conditions for her employees. This fall her company will be presenting two full collections, including a premier men’s line. Visit www.IREclothing.com.
Yes! I support women moving from poverty to prosperity through small business ownership! To make a donation to Women's Initiative, please CLICK HERE.