The San Francisco-based Women’s Initiative for Self-Employment — W.I.S.E. — provides low-income, high potential women in the San Francisco Bay Area with the tools and resources they need to start and grow their own businesses and become financially self-sufficient.
"Our mission is to help low-income women become economically independent and self-sufficient," explained CEO Julie Castro Abrams.
In order to take advantage of the organization’s services, single women must earn less than $40,000 per year, and women who are from families of four must earn less than $55,000 per year, according to Abrams.
Women who meet this criteria and would like to launch their own business start off by attending a free, 90-minute readiness workshop that can help them determine if entrepreneurship is a good fit for them.
About half of the women decide it is indeed right for them, according to Abrams. They then go on to the Simple Steps Business Training, a rigorous 11-week program offered in both English and Spanish.
The training program consists of six hours per week and involves homework each week. It covers such things as how to put together a business plan, how to manage cash flow, and how to do market research and personal development, according to Women’s Initiative Executive Director Nicole Levine.
Levine explained that the training also addresses women’s fears of failure, as well as fear of success; how they can present themselves with confidence; and how they can talk about their business in a way that gets other people excited.
Those who complete the program tend to increase their income by 60 percent, according to Levine. They also create jobs and stimulate the economy with their new businesses. In 2011, graduates created and retained more than 5,500 jobs in the Bay Area, according to the organization’s website, found at www.womensinitiative.org/index.htm.
Graduates of the program are eligible to enroll in Success Links, a program through which they can participate in 12 1-hour meetings with business consultants.
Additionally, they are able to participate in “connect events,” which provide them with networking opportunities with people in the community. "They're really fun,” Levine said. “One new graduate came away with four new clients."
Graduates also are eligible to apply for micro loans of $500 to $35,000.The Women’s Initiative was launched 24 years ago by a small group of women who were concerned about the state of women. They wanted to improve the situation for women and decided entrepreneurship would be a good way to do that, according to Abrams.
One of those women, Paulette Meyer, today serves as vice chair of the board of directors at the Center for Community Change.
The Women’s Initiative has served 24,000 women through the years, according to Levine. The organization has helped women between the ages of 18 and 70, with the average age being 39. Eighty percent of the Women’s Initiative’s clients are women are of color, and of that 80 percent, 50 percent are Latina, Levine said.
The Women’s Initiative started in Oakland and currently has offices in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Novato, and Concord.
This year the organization is expanding its services out-of-state by offering classes in New York and Chicago. Classes started in New York in February and are expected to begin in Chicago by July, according to Abrams.
The goal is to eventually launch into 10 urban markets, including Dallas, Miami and other cities that have been identified as good markets, she explained.
The Women’s Initiative — which has a budget of $5.3 million — receives government funding as well as funding from individuals and companies. Each May, the Women’s Initiative holds its annual gala fundraiser, which also provides revenue for the organization.
A program graduate, Josey White, opened The Front Porch restaurant at 65a 29th St., with help from the Women’s Initiative. White had worked with some women who had participated in the program who “ranted and raved” about it so she decided to check it out herself. She knew she wanted to start a restaurant, but she did not have a name or know anything about launching a business, she admitted.
“It is such a great program, even if you’re not starting your own business,” White said. “It helps you with what you need to not only improve in your business plan but your daily life.”
White added, “It’s a group of women that are all trying to do something better. You’re either laughing or crying through class. … It really does take you through the idea of starting a business. It makes it a reality.”
The Women’s Initiative got a lawyer to look at White’s lease. Additionally, the group introduced her to the Renaissance Center in Bayview. White was also able to obtain an individual development account — IDA — thanks to the Women’s Initiative.
Had she not gotten help from the Women’s Initiative, White — who was waiting tables prior to launching The Front Porch — said she would still be a waitress.
In March of this year, White was also able to launch a second business — the Rock Bar — across the street from The Front Porch.
Another graduate of the program, Rika Futamura, learned about the Women’s Initiative 1 ½ years ago. She had worked at Life — a store that sells perfumes, oils, incense, resins, candles, beauty treatments, fabrics and pillows — and had become a manager at the store in August 2010. The owner asked her if she would be interested in buying the business.
The Women’s Initiative introduced Futamura to SBA Score, which provides free mentoring and counseling. She found a mentor who helped her through the process of buying a business and helped her negotiate the price. The Women’s Initiative also introduced her to Working Solutions, her current lender.
After completing the training program at the Women's Initiative, Futamura said that her teacher, Sheila Cunningham, was “great at women’s initiatives.” Futamura added, “She was the kind of teacher who goes above and beyond for her students.”
The class that helped her the most dealt with fear of money, Futamura said. “It makes you look at your money and deal with it in a way that doesn’t scare you,” she said. “I’m not going to have this kind of fear anymore, dealing with money, dealing with debt.”
Futamura recommended the Women’s Initiative to two acquaintances, who signed up for the next classes. “It’s been a great experience,” she said. “I feel really blessed. It’s meant to be.”
Holly Anderson launched the Service Workers Acupuncture Project at 513 Valencia St., Ste. 7, with help from The Women’s Initiative. She had the acupuncture experience, but not the business experience, she explained.
In January, Anderson received a $3,000 Amy Doppelt Business Growth Grant. She has used some of the funds to build up her herbal pharmacy and also has put some of the funds into an individual retirement account, or IRA.
Anderson has recommended the Women’s Initiative to friends and other people who are coming out of the same acupuncture program in which she participated.
Anderson said that if she had not gotten involved with the Women’s Initiative, opening the Service Workers Acupuncture Project “would have taken me longer or maybe not happened at all.”
For more information about the Women’s Initiative, call 415.641.3460, or visit www.womensinitiative.org.
Addendum: Nicole Levine stated that you must be a graduate of the training program in order to apply for a loan. Women's Initiative graduates can apply for a loan to use for their Business including purchasing a computer, increasing their inventory, developing marketing materials such as a website, and many other business needs. The potential borrower must state in her application how she will use the loan, and she must then use the funding the way she specified in the loan application.
When asked if women who had had bankruptcies were given loans, Levine stated, “Again, I want to emphasize that our program is not designed for women who only want a loan, but for women who want to learn how to develop a business plan and gain the confidence to turn their vision into a successful business.
We assess each loan application on an individual basis, weighing a number of criteria, and a bankruptcy will not necessarily preclude a woman from receiving a loan.”
