Partners & Programs
Women’s Empowerment International (WE) believes that all people should live free from poverty. Since 2005, WE has provided life-changing funding—raised entirely through charitable donations—to women in some of the world’s most under-resourced communities, here in the U.S. and countries around the world.
In partnership with high-impact nonprofit organizations, WE funds vital poverty alleviation strategies, including loans to help women start small businesses, skills training, education, and practical, holistic support to help them strengthen their families and their communities.
EL SALVADOR | OEF
Empowering Women at Home & in the Community
OEF’s three-part model focuses on education, employability, and preventative health. With WE support, OEF launched a pilot microloan project for the social and economic empowerment of women that provides training on job and life skills and business development support, as well as works to increase women’s participation and decision-making, both at the family and community levels.
GUATEMALA | Multicolores
Traditional Arts Empower
Multicolores, based in rural communities in Guatemala, is an association for Maya women artists, who create original works of textile art using rug-hooking and embroidery. Through their work, the women celebrate their heritage and become catalysts for social change in their families and communities. Multicolores supports the artists through creative and economic development, health and well-being, and leadership.
HAITI | Fonkoze
Expanding Healthcare in Haiti
Access to healthcare is urgently needed in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Through the Boutik Sante Program of Fonkoze, WE funds healthcare supplies and the training of female microfinance clients so they can operate rural community health stores. The services and goods provided at these mini-clinics have saved thousands of lives.
HONDURAS | Adelante
Creating Hope in Honduras
Focusing on rural, under-resourced areas of Honduras, WE-funded microloans through partner Adelante enable women to start small businesses. Through farming and the sale of food, animals, and handcrafted goods, these women work to break a cycle of intergenerational poverty and strengthen their families.
MEXICO | Via
Increasing Independence and Security for Women
In Tijuana, WE is proud to support ESTIMA and Via Migrante, two programs of Via International that build support for women working in the sex trade and those affected by the trauma of migration, providing economic empowerment and tools to resist and/or exit patterns of violence.
PUERTO RICO | Matria
Empowering Entrepreneurs in Puerto Rico
In partnership with Proyecto Matria in Puerto Rico, WE funds the business start-up costs for aspiring women entrepreneurs whose financial stability is essential to the country’s on-going hurricane recovery efforts.
SAN DIEGO | Girls Invest
Girls Invest in Their Futures
A mobile app-based financial literacy and savings incentive program, WE partner, Girls Invest, helps adolescent girls from low-income backgrounds in El Cajon and City Heights gain financial literacy, build a savings account, improve health outcomes, and envision a future.
SAN DIEGO | IRC
A STAR Program is Born
In San Diego and El Cajon, WE’s funding of a business incubator has enabled women in low-income communities to start and strengthen over 890 local businesses. In partnership with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) since 2006, the WE STAR Program offers comprehensive business start-up and expansion services to refugees and other local women.
SAN DIEGO | Urban Corps
Overcoming Barriers to Employment
Coming soon.
UGANDA | Nyaka
A Lifeline for Uganda's Grannies and Orphans
Through a partnership with Nyaka, WE provides vital loan funding to thousands of grandmothers caring for children who have lost parents to HIV/AIDS. With loans as small as $14, the grannies start small, sustainable businesses so they can feed, shelter, and educate their grandchildren and the other village orphans they care for.
Past Partner | SAN DIEGO
Dreams for Change
Attaining Dreams of Change
Amid increasing concerns about homelessness and housing insecurity in San Diego, WE’s partnership with Dreams for Change supports women participants in Dreams’ Cuisine, an innovative on-the-job training program that prepares women experiencing homelessness for work with practical skills and training to succeed in securing employment.