Velma Crawford, Student in the Entrepreneur Training for Success 2011
Mission
EWI is an award winning non-profit organization that channels the entrepreneurial spirit, the arts and creative talents of immigrant, refugee and low-income women in the Greater Washington DC Metro area into small businesses that create jobs and a new generation of American leaders and entrepreneurs.
Services
EWI accomplishes this by providing mentoring and education that teaches practical workforce readiness skills for the American business culture in the arts and the creative industries. The organization offers a comprehensive model of empowerment, workforce development and self-sufficiency that includes:
- A three-month intensive entrepreneurial training, Entrepreneur Training for Success (ETS) along with ongoing personalized coaching, mentoring, networking and support services;
- A micro-enterprise program that allow ETS graduates to generate income and build a market for their products by selling their work through EWI’s marketplace and partner organizations;
- A multicultural outreach program that presents visual and performing arts programs across the Washington DC area to further provide opportunities for our beneficiaries to connect with, participate, and give back to their communities.
Impact
In 2010, 308 immigrant, refugee and low-income women benefited from our comprehensive training, mentoring and support services. We tripled revenue from $55,000 to $158,000, and partnered with AmeriCorps to bring a full-time staff member in our team. EWI presented six visual and performing art programs and 36 artists markets across the Greater Washington DC area, which earned money for over 50 women artists and creative entrepreneurs, and benefited an audience of approximately 4,000 participants.
Got passion to get involved? Email Marga Fripp at margacfripp@gmail.com