Non-Profit WEV Distributes $225,000 to Entrepreneurial Hispanic and Indigenous Community Members

VENTURA COUNTY — Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) on June 29 hosted an Award Ceremony at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center to distribute $225,000 to entrepreneurial Hispanic and Indigenous Ventura County community members. Forty-five Emprendedores program participants, thirty-one women and 14 men, successfully completed WEV’s free, 6-week business training program and applied for grant funding; each received a $5,000 grant award for their small business needs. For more program information, including the upcoming Santa Barbara County cohort enrollment, visit www.wevonline.org/emprendimiento

WEV’s Emprendedores Program, offered in partnership with Mixteco Indigenous Community Organizing Project (MICOP) is funded by the state of California’s Employment Training Panel’s (ETP), Social Entrepreneurs for Economic Development (SEED) initiative and is aimed at empowering marginalized community members who face barriers to employment such as low English proficiency. The program includes group training sessions on topics such as business marketing and finance individualized coaching, and funding tied to a business plan to support individuals in launching or growing their own businesses in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.

Family members, community partners and course instructors attended the Ventura County Award Ceremony and heard inspiring speeches from two of the graduates, Juana Zaragoza and Irene Gomez. Juana Zaragoza Gonzalez is an entrepreneur and founder of Pasteles Briana, located in Oxnard. She entered the world of pastries with a desire to make healthier, better-quality desserts for her family and her community. Juana encourages others to “follow what they are passionate about.”

Originally from Oaxaca, Irene Gomez immigrated to the U.S. at an early age. After spending most of her youth working in the fields, her dream was always to open her own small business and to share her indigenous roots with others. Irene’s goal is to publish a book in two languages, Mixteco and Spanish, to promote the importance of reading in the indigenous community and to capture the richness of Mixteco culture through language and traditional storytelling. She hopes the book, NAKAVI SII NAVALI NA NUU – Leamos Nuestra Lengua con los Niños del Pueblo, will inspire and educate younger generations to proudly represent their Mixteco roots. Irene thanked WEV and shared that the Emprendedores program “created a space for her and other dreamers to believe their entrepreneurial dreams could become a reality and that anything is possible if you believe in yourself.”   (Photo 2:  Award recipient Irene Gomez speaking to WEV Emprendedores graduates. Credit: West Coast Photo Booth)

Based on the success, impact, and outcomes of the Emprendedores program, the state’s Employment Training Panel (ETP) awarded WEV an additional $2 million to continue providing the SEED program for another two years. With this funding, WEV will launch the second round of Emprendedores classes this September in Santa Barbara County, followed by the next cohort in Ventura County in 2023.

WEV’s Learning Solutions Manager/Women’s Business Center Director Ashley Goldstein said, “Our goal with this next round is to enroll more than 100 participants who want the support and training to launch or grow their business. Once they complete our program, each graduate will be eligible to receive a $7,500 micro-grant, which is huge for a small business!”

“We will also administer a special cohort of ‘Emprendedores de Guarderia’ to childcare service providers in partnership with Children’s Resource and Referral of Santa Barbara County to provide training and $7,500 micro-grants to twenty-five licensed daycare owners,” added Goldstein.

About Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) — www.wevonline.org
Women’s Economic Ventures is dedicated to creating an equitable and just society through the economic empowerment of women.  WEV is a business resource network for anyone looking to start a business, grow a local business, or improve their business skills. WEV provides small business training, advisory services, financial literacy programs and small business loans in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. While WEV’s focus is on women, it welcomes people of all gender identities into the WEV community. Business courses, programs and loans are provided in both English and Spanish.

Since 1991, WEV has provided business training and small business advisory services to more than 28,000 people throughout Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. WEV has made more than $6.9 million in small business loans and helped nearly 5,300 local businesses start or expand, generating an estimated $873 million in annual sales and creating over 12,400 local jobs. WEV is a U.S. Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Center and Microlender, as well as a certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI).