Edition:
Social Responsibility

2008
 March/April

Springtime at AnewAmerica

Building a Socially-Responsible America

Events
-Social Responsibility Festival Set for June 21st!

AnewAmerica in the Media

News
-San Jose Open House a Great Success!

Profiles
-Entrepreneur
-Donor

Volunteer & Wish Lists

What's New?
-Bridge 2 Success
-Investor's Guild

Donor Appreciation

Springtime at AnewAmerica

Welcome to AnewAmerica’s 2nd  edition of the Investor’s Return (IR), our new bi-monthly eNewsletter! As a valued member of the AnewAmerica community, we are excited to share our latest achievements and those of our clients. 

AnewAmerica’s unique three-year Virtual Business Incubator (VBI) rests on three cornerstones: the Business Planning college certificate course, financial literacy, and social responsibility.   In the last issue, we painted the picture of the Business Planning phase of our program.  In this edition, we’ll highlight the ways in which AnewAmerica and our entrepreneurs are active in the field of Social Responsibility, helping to build a more sustainable community, country, and world.   

Building a Socially-Responsible America

 Social responsibility is an integral aspect of AnewAmerica’s efforts to build community assets and develop leadership skills among new American immigrants and refugees.  Within their first six months in the Business Planning certificate course, all AnewAmerica entrepreneurs attend seminars about civic rights and responsibilities, and socially and environmentally responsible business planning.  Next, they create a social responsibility action plan outlining the ways they will be involved in their communities—both as a person and as a small business owner.

The

AnewAmerica hosts an annual Social Responsibility Summit, where microentrepreneurs come together to plan joint advocacy and community development activities.  Guest speakers and lecturers conduct workshops surrounding issues such as immigration, education, food justice, and environmental justice.

 In partnership with local community organizations, participants take part in visits to their representatives in Sacramento to advocate for immigrant and working families’ rights, fundraise for impoverished communities in their home countries, and sponsorship of special events for neighborhood community organizations.

Social Responsibility
Festival
June 21st (details TBA soon!)

AnewAmerica in the Media

Radio...
96.5 KOIT
Today’s World, Sherry Brown interviews Sylvia Rosales-Fike & Teresa Boydon
Click here for the interview

Silicon Valley News KLOK 1170 AM
March 18th
Sylvia Roslaes-Fike and Bonifacio Sanchez
Click here for the interview

Print...
America.gov
Online article of AnewAmerica entrepreneurs Fanta Nabay and Yan Liu
Click here to read the article

Television...

Univision Channel  14
Program Managers Jeff Butler  & Linda Snook, Sylvia Rosales-Fike & San Jose Clients interviewed at the San Jose Open House & Microbusiness Expo

AnewAmerica San Jose Open House a Great Success! 

From left to right: Linda Snook (AnewAmerica San Jose Office Director), Lorraine Guerin (representative of Councilmember Joe Coto), John Nguyen (AnewAmerica San Jose Program Director), and Sylvia Rosales-Fike (CEO and President of AnewAmerica Community Corporation).

AnewAmerica celebrated our dynamic presence in Santa Clara County at our March 14^th San Jose Open House and Microbusiness Expo.  The evening began with opening remarks from AnewAmerica San Jose Program Director John Dzuong Nguyen, and AnewAmerica Founder, President and CEO, Sylvia Rosales-Fike.  Honorary guest speakers included David Cortese (Vice Mayor of San Jose), Mark Quinn (Regional Director of the Small Business Administration), and Lorraine Guerin (representing Councilmember Joe Coto).  Georgette Bhathena received our Community Support Award on behalf of Citibank.  Linda Snook, Director of the AnewAmerica San Jose Center, provided closing remarks. 

Community leaders, policy-makers, corporate sponsors, entrepreneurs, and AnewAmerica staff enjoyed an entertaining evening of networking, ethnic food, and shopping.   AnewAmerica entrepreneurs transformed the Cisco Systems/San Jose eCenter into a thriving international marketplace. Businesses represented a variety of products and services, including African home accents, Peruvian crafts, jewelry, health and beauty products, tailoring, auto-body, and sign-making services.  New Americans entrepreneurs from Sierra Leone, Uganda, the Philippines, Columbia and Mexico proudly represented their businesses, while attendees took advantage of the opportunity to purchase quality products from socially-responsible businesses. 

Entrepreneurs represented the success of AnewAmerica's three-pronged approach to microenterprise development: business planning education, asset development, and the cultivation of social responsibility. 

Patricia Rodriguez displays her quesadillas
 at the Open House.

AnewAmerica extends its gratitude to our individual, foundation, and corporate sponsors, as well as state representatives, the City of San Jose, and the San Jose Mayor’s Office for making the evening a great success! 

Four New Business Planning Courses Begin this Month!

AnewAmerica is proud to announce the launching of four new Virtual Business Incubator cohorts in March!  San Jose launched two new classes in Spanish and Vietnamese, while Oakland is offering classes in English and Spanish.

Profiles

Spotlight: Maggie Kaplan

Donor Since 2004

One of the things AnewAmerica strives to do is bridge the divide and empowers immigrants to become part of the democratic system instead of forcing them to try to live their lives from the “outside.”  AnewAmerica creates success stories.  It helps to socially, politically, and economically integrate immigrants, therefore eliminating some of the popular fears that immigrants are taking advantage of the social services in this country.  AnewAmerica is a harborage of hope of how we can integrate the ‘other’ ‘stranger’ ‘outsider’ and make a place for them in the heart of America.  This enables them to realize exactly what America’s strength has always been: a place for opportunity.

I feel privileged to be able to support people who want to support themselves.  Economic well-being is energy and energy needs to keep moving.  One of the ways is to help support organizations and people who are trying to make a difference in their lives, families, communities, and become leaders in the country in which they’re living.

Mari Gonzales In Her Own Words…
Mari Gonzales, AnewAmerica Entrepreneur, Class of 2006

“I realize that I can only control my own actions.  If I operated my own business, I can stick to my values.  This is why I decided to become an entrepreneur.”

Mari Gonzales started her career working for corporations whose actions didn’t align with her values.  After completing AnewAmerica’s Virtual Business Incubator, Mari launched Ixmati Cultural Communications, a consulting firm that provides Latino/Hispanic marketing development and training, and cross-cultural market research.

When I started at AnewAmerica, I had a general idea.  I had an undergraduate degree in Business and I wanted to focus on Hispanic marketing.  As a Latina immigrant, it has been a quest for me to understand the differences between the American and Latino cultures in a way that is unifying rather than conflicting.  My goal is to make people more aware and sensitive of stereotypes.  You must have  cultural understanding to deal with immigrant communities. 

Social Responsibility becomes a personal value that you can’t grow separate from.  You implement it because you believe in it.  You can’t separate the person from the business.  In the long term, it makes sense for a business to be socially responsible because they are leaving a legacy and setting the tone for other businesses. 

One of the main motivations for me to go into business is for my prosperity to have a ripple effect.  I want to lend money to people in Mexico through a micro-finance program.  One of my goals is to help people in Mexico gain consciousness about their reality.  I have always believed in the power of education; everybody has the right to make informed decisions. 

AnewAmerica caters to the needs of immigrants, which are different from native people.  Immigrants share similar challenges when trying to understand a new system, regardless of their ethnicity, language, and social status.  Because AnewAmerica is so involved in social responsibility, they create a chain of prosperity.  They help entrepreneurs realize how they can help themselves, and in turn, help others.

Mari is currently teaching English as a second language. She is in the process of expanding her business, and has entered a Masters program in Intercultural Relations.

Rebekah Peterkin’s Fair Trade Initiatives
Rebekah Peterkin, AnewAmerica Entrepreneur, Class of 2008

Rebekah’s Ugandan roots inspire her to share the artistry of her homeland with her business, Lwanga Traders.  Lwanga boasts a unique array of African home décor, kitchen accents, jewelry, and bags, made by village craftswomen in Uganda.  Rebekah is also a talented artisan: she creates consignment, high-quality pieces to complement the work of her partners in Africa.  Rebekah is currently in the process of becoming a certified Fair Trade business.

Rebekah’s dedication to social responsibility is inherent in her business practices. She views her business as a way to help improve the lives of women in Uganda.  Many of the women who produce her crafts are HIV positive and depend on a market for their goods to purchase anti-viral medication for themselves and their children.  Rebekah’s work is addressing the need for a systemized distribution for their products, as environmental and social factors (such as bad weather or violence) often prevent products from making their way to the metropolitan markets. 

AnewAmerica’s program appealed to Rebekah because it spoke to her needs as an immigrant: “When you come from another country, you have to start from scratch.  It’s easier to work alongside entrepreneurs from other countries because we have different needs.  When I see [fellow entrepreneurs] working with their own businesses, I feel a sense of enthusiasm and reinforcement of my own goals.  AnewAmerica offers so many connections in the areas of community development, social responsibility, financial literacy and homeownership that apply to people from all different social statuses.” 

Introducing the Bridge 2 Success Program!

If you have business savvy to share and the desire to help build a community of successful and socially responsible entrepreneurs, Bridge 2 Success is the program for you!

This spring AnewAmerica launches Bridge 2 Success, a mentorship program partnering a diverse group of volunteer business professionals and students with AnewAmerica’s entrepreneurs, granting them coaching and mentorship in the areas necessary to further develop their microenterprises.

Who are Bridges?
Bridges are professionals who want a real sense of accomplishment by sharing expertise, lessons learned, and encouragement with our dedicated and talented graduates.
   Tutors   provide 1-on-1 mentorship via discussion and mock sessions specific to the individual needs of their entrepreneur.
   Tutors   have experience in a specific industry or specific business skills.
   Coaches   lead Business Action Circles that address specific business ideas or industries.  
   Coaches have experience discussing their topics and are enthusiastic about conducting workshops for a maximum of 25 entrepreneurs.
   *The time commitment for both Coaches and Tutors is three hours, twice a year

What you will offer our entrepreneurs:

• Invaluable experience.

• Encouragement and guidance to turn business and marketing plans into step-by-step action plans.

• Winning communications strategies– to help them build business.
• Your networking savvy. Coach our entrepreneurs on how to make lasting impressions that build relationships.
• Connections. Introduce them to the outstanding benefits and connections of Chambers and Industry Associations.
• Growth. Help them sustain and expand their businesses by sharing your knowledge in bookkeeping, cash-flow management, taxes, technology, bonding, insurance, loans and credit, and retirement planning.

Who Bridges Serve:
Bridge 2 Success serves AnewAmerica’s entrepreneurs who have earned our Business Training Certificate, and are eager to put their marketing and sales plans into action. With just a few hours per year, you can give our graduates insight, inspiration, and a jump-start on their business dreams. All of our clients have remarkable stories of resilience, faith, and strength that will inspire you. YOU can make the difference between success and delay.

For more information contact Ferron Salniker, VISTA Program Associate, at (510) 540-7785 or fsalniker@anewamerica.org.

Invest in an Entrepreneur’s Future Today! 
In response to our supporters, AnewAmerica has created the Investor's Guild.  The Investor’s Guild is a pledge program that allows you to contribute a small amount each month while making a big and long-term investment in new Americans working to build economic stability for their families, communities and America.

It’s fast and easy to join.  Visit our website and follow the link to our secure donation page to set up your monthly pledge to AnewAmerica using your credit card: http://anewamerica.org/investorsguild.htm

Select the amount that fits your budget, and we will process your payment as you choose. To cancel, simply notify AnewAmerica at any time.   For more information, or to make your Investor’s Guild contribution over the phone, please contact us at 510.540.7785 or  InvestorGuild@anewamerica.org.

Thank you to our recent donors!
 

Thank you so much for your continued support,

Sylvia Rosales-Fike
President & CEO