What makes C.E.O. Women unique?
What are C.E.O. Women's top three programs?
How many clients does C.E.O. Women serve per year?
What is C.E.O. Women's success rate?
What types of businesses do women end up starting?
How do clients find C.E.O. Women?
Why does C.E.O. Women focus on refugee and immigrant women?
Where does C.E.O. Women get funding?

What makes C.E.O. Women unique?

C.E.O. Women distinguishes itself from other programs serving women entrepreneurs in the following ways:

1. C.E.O. Women is not an ESL (English as a Second Language) program, nor is it a traditional entrepreneurship training organization. C.E.O. Women's emphasis is on teaching English within the context of entrepreneurship. Strong English skills are essential to business communication, civic participation, economic and social integration in the United States. Moreover, learning and practicing English within the context of starting a business motivates and accelerates the language-learning process.
2. C.E.O. Women has created a scalable model that utilizes multimedia technology to reach women in need. C.E.O. Women's innovative educational soap opera, or telenovela, Grand Café, standardizes and scales up C.E.O. Women's existing programs to serve low-income immigrant and refugee women throughout the Bay Area and, eventually, across the country. Click here to view a trailer of this unique program.
3. C.E.O. Women only works with low-income immigrant and refugee women, specifically tailoring services to meet their unique needs and challenges as aspiring women entrepreneurs.

What are C.E.O. Women's top three programs?

C.E.O. Women provides its clients and alumnae the tools and confidence to become entrepreneurs through three core programs: training, alumnae support, and access to capital.

1. Training: A training program in which women strengthen their English while gaining basic business skills, including marketing, legal issues, negotiation skills, finance, public speaking and networking. The course content is delivered through DVD episodes of Grand Café and accompanying workbooks. Women meet once a month with their trainer and their peers.

2. Alumnae support: Ongoing programs for C.E.O. Women alumnae to help them transform their ideas and strengths into income-generating businesses.
• Coaching program to help women navigate business ownership
• Ongoing business workshops and alumnae networking opportunities
3. Access to capital: The organization's Women Connected Venture Fund, one of three micro-equity programs in the country, awards $2,000 grants to help burgeoning entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses.

Who does C.E.O. Women serve?

All of C.E.O. Women's clients have a strong desire to improve their English, become entrepreneurs, and contributing members of society.

• 100% of C.E.O. Women's clients are women and 94% earn low to moderate incomes, according to HUD and HHS guidelines
• An average C.E.O. Women client entering C.E.O. Women's programs has a personal income of $14,092 and an average household income of $25,767 to support a family of four
• 25% percent of C.E.O. Women clients are single heads of households
• 100% of the clients are immigrants or refugees from countries all over the world. 50% are Latina, 36% are Asian, 9% are African/Caribbean and 5% identify as "other"

How many clients does C.E.O. Women serve per year?

Through the use of our innovative Grand Café curriculum, C.E.O. Women hopes to expand the number of women served per year from 400 to 1000.

What is C.E.O. Women's success rate?

• 31% of participants started or strengthened a business or became employed
• Participants' household incomes increased, on average, by$28,000
• 87% of participants improved their reading and writing in English

These statistics are based on C.E.O. Women's 2007 annual outcomes survey. A full evaluation report of C.E.O. Women's outcomes is coming soon!

What types of businesses do women end up starting?

Restaurants and catering services, massage therapy services, online retail businesses, arts and crafts, child day care, and more! Click here to view C.E.O. Women's Client Business Directory and patronize some of C.E.O. Women's start-up enterprises.

How do clients find C.E.O. Women?

• Outreach presentations at local adult schools, community colleges, and community based organizations
• Public service announcements on local ethnic television and radio stations
• Newspapers and community calendars
• Word of mouth from alumnae, volunteers, and staff
• Referrals from community partners

Why does C.E.O. Women focus on refugee and immigrant women?

• 25% of Asian women have less than a high school level of education in Alameda County (16% and 15% in Contra Costa and Marin Counties)
• 33% of Asian households are linguistically isolated
• 38% of Asian households are headed by single women living in poverty
• In 2000, 19% of Latino households in Alameda County were headed by single parents
• Nearly 20% of Latino family households were linguistically isolated
• Nearly 40% of Latinos do not have a high school diploma or equivalency compared to 14% of whites

Where does C.E.O. Women get funding?

In 2007, C.E.O. Women received funding from the following sources:

• Philanthropic foundations (45%)
• Individual donors (23%)
• Corporations (17%)
• In-kind donations (13%)
• Earned Revenue (2%)