Getting our Goats
Just in from guest blogger Sophie Brion of the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County:
In the global south, a seemingly simple gift of a goat to an impoverished woman and her family can spur radical change in her economic outlook. Almost instantly she is able to provide some basic necessities for her family, and earn increased income. One fantastic, incredible, catalytic goat. The introduction of this goat impacts the entire trajectory of the family for generations; sending children to school, building local infrastructure and providing ballast for the entire family to weather life’s inevitable ups and downs. However, in urban Miami we knew that a goat wouldn’t cut it as a strategy to improve women’s economic security. Notwithstanding regular local sightings of El Chupa Cabra (a.k.a. the goat sucker – from Mexican folklore) we knew that goat herding was not a practical source of income for Miamians. So we began to wonder - what is the goat here in Miami?
- One fantastic, incredible, catalytic goat.
Earlier this year, my organization, the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade (Women’s Fund), released a report on women’s economic security in Greater Miami. We wanted to identify strategies that would work well for women in Miami, were strategic and affordable investments and showed promise for lasting improvement to the economic outlook of women and their families. Goats, if you will. In researching the report we identified several strategies such as financial education, matched savings programs, better wages and more subsidized/affordable childcare that offered pieces of the economic security puzzle. As we reached out to community partners and spoke to women throughout Miami we found that the strategy that seemed to offer the most significant change in women’s lives was small business ownership. Small business ownership offers women better wages, the ability to build assets and more flexibility to manage the often competing demands of care taking for children or elderly family members and work. How then to increase the opportunities for women to become successful small business owners?
For women, the biggest obstacle to developing a successful business is likely the ability to access the capital they need to start or improve a small business. From preparing a well considered business plan, obtaining affordable loans and navigating common business pitfalls, owning your own business is certainly not easy. Yet when a woman entrepreneur has access to affordable loans and support through the development of her business the likelihood of her success is increased tremendously. At the Women’s Fund, we believe that microloans along with financial education are a highly effective strategy for helping women move out of poverty and reach a stable level of economic security. ACCION USA is just such a place where women entrepreneurs can get the support and affordable loans they need to be successful. From assisting women with their loan packages to ongoing support when fledgling businesses encounter rough spots, ACCION USA helps women entrepreneurs achieve their dreams and improve the economic outlook of their entire families. In other words, we believe that ACCION USA’s microloans are the proverbial goat, and we are not alone.
Over the next four years Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade and several of our sister funds will invest in women’s entrepreneurship through ACCION USA. Leveraging the $250,000 in funding we have received from the Women’s Self-Worth Foundation to support ACCION USA microlending to women in Miami-Dade, we are buying a lot of goats.
– Sophie Brion, Women’s Advocacy Project Director, Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade County
Tags: women
July 8th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
I just wanted to make my first post here and say that I really appreciate what you do with your blogging site. I look forward to becoming much more part of the community.