In partnership
with the U.S. State Department, U.S. Afghan Women's Council, and universities,
the WIPP Institute's goal in the first phase of its program is to bring women
business owners from Afghanistan to the United States to engage in a high-level,
5-week business basics curriculum and mentoring program. The second phase of the
program will focus on long-distance learning and mentoring via technology. This
will provide the on-going support and knowledge necessary to maintain the enterprises.
The
issues the program will address are entrepreneurial, designed to specifically
provide the entrepreneurial building blocks for a successful business strategy
for Afghan women. The curriculum will include principles of business management,
fundamentals of human resource development, ethical issues in operating an enterprise,
financing strategies, and the use of technology to enhance education and long-distance
learning. The curriculum will be presented in Farsi and English language. There
will also be a mentoring component which will allow women business owners in the
United States to share knowledge with women from Afghanistan and women in the
United States to learn from them.
The program, as developed,
has specific goals and objectives built into the curriculum. A base-line of business
expertise and experience of attendees will be collected at the beginning of the
program and knowledge gained in these areas will be measured at the conclusion
of phase 1 of the program.
Unmeasurable but important are
the long-term effects students and women business owners from both countries will
gain. The program will give Afghan women the opportunity to interact with women
whose life experiences and perceptions of the world are vastly different from
their own. The project will give universities the opportunities to forge new relationships
with their counterparts in Afghanistan, and with local organizations. Women in
the United States will be introduced to women who are struggling for the kinds
of freedoms Americans take for granted. This will serve to deepen our respect
for and the appreciation of our own country and promote greater citizenship.
WIPP Institute Update
May, 2007
Terry Neese
President
& CEO, WIPP Institute
The month of April proved to be
a very successful month for the Institute. With most of our funding in place to
produce our Afghan Peace through Business program, we are beginning to communicate
with the women business owners in Afghanistan who will be traveling to our country
in August. We need your help in so many ways to make this effort successful! Participating
in this experience will be an opportunity of a lifetime. As we email back and
forth with these women, Lin and I are finding that they are so much like us. We
have the same concerns, desires, and ambitions. They want to build businesses,
take care of their family, and get involved in their community and their government.
It is so very exciting. This is what we need from you and how you can be involved!
- Mentors! The Afghan women will be on campus at Northwood University in Midland,
Michigan from August 9-September 14. We want these women to experience life with
a fellow American woman business owner. You can host two of these women from September
2-8 and allow them to shadow you in your business and personal life. If you own
a business in Michigan, Illinois, or Oklahoma, and want to be a part of this program,
please email Lin Weigel at lweigel@wipp.org. We can make it work if you are in
other states, just have to be more creative.
- Second Mentorship!
The Afghan women will be in Washington, D.C. from September 14-19. We want to
house the women with fellow women business owners in this area. You must be willing
to spend a great deal of time with them. They will have meetings at the White
House, State Department, Department of Education, SBA, etc. It would be nice if
you went with them to these events. Due to our Afghan Chair Betsy DeVos, they
will also be treated to the opening of the symphony season at the Kennedy Center
and many other cultural events. If you are interested in this part of the program,
email Lin at lweigel@wipp.org.
Many other things are
happening at the Institute. We conducted Power Tools for Women Business Owners
in St. Louis in April. We sincerely thank WIPP member Susan Solovic for hosting
the training at her SBTV studio. One of our attendees made the comment at the
end of the day that the media training alone was worth $5,000. By the time you
read this, our Chicago training will be over and then we are on to Washington,
D.C., June 20. To make reservations, email lweigel@wipp.org.
Additional
details of our activities for April.
- Attended the National Business
Association board meeting in Dallas.
- Participated in a press
conference with AT&T. Don Cain, President AT&T Oklahoma, presented the
Institute with a check for $125,000. The event was held at the Oklahoma State
Capitol.
- The Richard and Helen DeVos Foundation and the Dick
and Betsy DeVos Foundation contributed $50,000 to our Afghan efforts. And finally,
the UPS Foundation contributed $10,000. We appreciate their belief in our mission.
- The Institute’s board of directors met via conference
call.
We are excited to move forward with our education
and training programs. As you know, starting and growing a business means there
is a new wrinkle almost every day. For example, we discovered that the Afghan
women can’t obtain their visas in Afghanistan. They have to travel to Islamabad
in Pakistan, complete paperwork, spend the night, return to the Embassy to obtain
their visas and then travel back to Afghanistan. This is an UNEXPECTED detour
for us and costly. Every day is a twist and turn as we build toward the summer
and the excitement of welcoming our new friends to the United States. Please ask
how you can get involved and visit our website at www.wipp.org/institute!
Terry
Neese, President/CEO
