Equipment Wish ListC.E.O. Women's 10th Anniversary
C.E.O. Women's 10th Anniversary
C.E.O. Women 10th Anniversary
We are a
decade old 
and we want the world to
know! As we celebrate our anniversary, we look back at a rewarding ten years with
plenty of milestones to celebrate.
Since inception,
we have served more than 2,000 immigrant and refugee women throughout the Bay Area. Our training and alumnae programs have helped women increase or maintain their household incomes
and assets, and boost their confidence in speaking, writing and reading English. The organization has also awarded over
$55,000 in micro-equity grants to 28 C.E.O. Women micro-entrepreneurs.
C.E.O.
Women closed out the decade by launching Grand
Café, our educational soap opera. Students
learn from the DVD series and workbooks in conjunction with classroom-based
training, enabling more women to participate in a more flexible way. We are also very proud to have expanded our
services to the South Bay, allowing us to reach out to the 38,000 immigrants
and refugee women living in San Jose.
Without
the support of our sponsors, donors and volunteers, these past ten years would
not have been possible. We thank you for
your trust and dedication all these years.
We have plenty of exciting developments in the pipeline and we look
forward to your support for another ten!
Continued Innovation at C.E.O. Women
C.E.O.
Women has a 
history of innovation, from embedding English as a Second
Language in our entrepreneurship curriculum, to incorporating a new soap opera
series
into our training. Our tenth year promises to
be more of the same. This year, we are
transforming how women can access our training by offering rolling enrollment
and a more flexible schedule. Women will
now be able to choose when and how they will learn, completing C.E.O. Women's
introductory course in as little or as much time as they need. Women will also be able to attend online
webinars either in place of, or in addition to, in-person workshops in Oakland and San
Jose. With
these improvements, we anticipate 500 women in the Bay Area will complete our
introductory course. Here's to another
innovative and successful new year!
Grand Cafe Student Profile: Hanah Wachuka
Although
she is new to the United States,
Hanah Wachuka is not new to entrepreneurship: she owned a thriving hair
braiding salon in her native Kenya.
With the help of a micro-loan, she and her husband expanded the salon to carry
beauty supplies and groceries. Despite her entrepreneurial success, Hanah faced
many hardships. Her in-laws were members of the Mungiki, a Kenyan politico-religious
criminal organization, and Hanah received threats from members of the
organization for years. Her situation became so dire that she eventually fled
to the United States,
leaving her husband and four daughters behind.
Hanah was
referred to C.E.O. Women by Survivors International, an organization dedicated
to providing essential psychological and medical services to survivors of
torture. Although Hanah has always been
self-employed, the prospect of starting a business in the U.S. seemed daunting at first. "I did not know where to start," said
Hanah. "C.E.O. Women taught me how to
approach people, how to talk with people...I got courage. I can do it even if
everything is hard."
Through C.E.O.
Women's innovative Grand Café
training program, Hanah learned how
to budget her finances as well as how to showcase her braiding skills at the
local flea market. Hanah is currently
participating in The Bread Project, which provides culinary training and job
referral assistance. "Half of my barriers are gone. I don't have fear anymore,"
she smiles.
She plans
to enroll in C.E.O. Women's Starting a
Small Business course this spring, and hopes to open a business so that her
husband can work with her when he and their children are able to join her in
the U.S.
"We can start over again," Hanah sighs. With her determination and strength,
there is no doubt that Hanah will achieve her dream. "Everything I start, I
finish," she says definitively.
