YWCA O‘ahu Receives $25,000 Grant to Support Women’s Entrepreneurship

Darlene Dela Cruz Marketing & Communications Coordinator ddelacruz@ywcaoahu.org

YWCA O‘ahu Receives $25,000 Grant to Support Women’s Entrepreneurship

 HONOLULU, NOV. 15, 2018 - YWCA O‘ahu has received a $25,000 grant from The Coca-Cola Foundation, the philanthropic arm of The Coca-Cola Company, to help women overcome barriers in starting, growing, and sustaining businesses while investing in educational tools that will increase the knowledge and confidence of women entrepreneurs. As part of YWCA USA’s Women’s Empowerment 3600 (WE 3600) program, these much-needed funds aim to expand women’s entrepreneurship and economic empowerment services for more than 4,000 women on in Hawai‘i.

 “Women-owned businesses is one of the fastest growing sectors of the economy,” said Terri Funakoshi, director of the Patsy T. Mink Center for Business & Leadership at YWCA O‘ahu.

 “YWCA O‘ahu houses the only Women’s Business Center (WBC) in the state of Hawai‘i, through the Coca-Cola grant we will be able to increase our outreach and provide educational tools and resources to insure success for generations of women entrepreneurs and leaders in Hawai‘i,” Funakoshi added.

 YWCA O‘ahu was selected for the grant because of its ongoing commitment to supporting women’s entrepreneurship and business development. Nationally, YWCA has a proven track record in this type of programming and believes that by exposing women to formal programs that blend education, employment, and entrepreneurship, women will be better positioned to foster independent sources of revenue, generate wealth, and create jobs all while creating economic development in their communities.

 Nationally, YWCA’s WE 3600 is designed to:

 1.    Increase the capacity of 16 existing YWCA entrepreneurship programs to identify and support more women entrepreneurs;

2.    Create a scalable entrepreneurship curriculum and module based on best practices that incorporate wrap-around economic development services designed to create jobs, as well as increase the number of women and minority-owned businesses; and

3.    Position YWCA as a key national entrepreneurial advocate and resource that assists with the incubation of new businesses while meeting the needs of existing entrepreneurial women.

 YWCA O‘ahu is excited to partner with The Coca-Cola Foundation to increase women’s empowerment and entrepreneurship.

 

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