Oakland, CA - Creating Economic Opportunities for Women (C.E.O Women), a non-profit organization developing economic opportunities for immigrant and refugee women, today announced that the organization will be honored by the San Jose City Council for its efforts in assisting low-income immigrant and refugee women in San José. The commendation will be presented to C.E.O. Women on Tuesday, December 1, 2009 by San Jose Mayor, Chuck Reed and San Jose Councilmember Ash Kalra.
“This is truly an honor for C.E.O. Women. Over the past two months, we have reached some 400 women in the Silicon Valley, and we are hoping to reach more than 750 in 2010,” said Farhana Huq, Founder and CEO of C.E.O. Women. “Currently there are 38,000 immigrant and refugee women in Santa Clara County who could benefit from our innovative program, supporting immigrant women entrepreneurs. We are thrilled to be expanding our services to women in the county.
C.E.O. Women aides low-income immigrant women to become economically self-sufficient and small business owners by addressing the challenges they face including language and cultural barriers through training, mentoring, coaching and access to capital. C.E.O. Women recently launched its new program, Grand Café, an educational soap opera that imparts language, financial literacy and entrepreneurial training through the stories of four immigrant and refugee women and their challenges and triumphs in starting their own businesses in the U.S.
“Being on the Community and Economic Development Committee, it is important for me to highlight and honor individuals and organizations that promote education, as well as create economic opportunities for low-income individuals,”
Since its inception, C.E.O. Women has served over 1,600 Bay Area immigrant women through its award-winning business entrepreneurship program, workshops, one-on-one assistance and referrals. On average, 64% of women in the program increase their household income by $28,000, and increase their confidence in speaking, writing and reading English by 87%. C.E.O. Women has also awarded more than $55,000 in grants to 28 C.E.O. Women micro-entrepreneurs.
About C.E.O Women
C.E.O. Women is a nonprofit organization founded in 2000 to address systemic poverty and lack of income mobility faced by low-income immigrant and refugee women. The mission of C.E.O. Women is to create economic opportunities for low-income immigrant and refugee women through teaching English, communications and entrepreneurship skills, so they can establish successful livelihoods. For more information about C.E.O. Women’s mission and programs, visit them on the World Wide Web at www.ceowomen.org.
