New Jersey businesswoman supports the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women through $2,000 sponsorship
March 9th, 2010 Posted by adminNew Jersey businesswoman supports the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women through $2,000 sponsorship
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – FEBRUARY 25, 2010 – The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women has announced the addition of Linda Magnusson-Rosario, president and CEO of InSys Consulting, to its 2010 sponsors with a donation of $2,000.
“Linda is a dedicated businesswoman and advocate for women around the world,” said Terry Neese, founder and CEO of the Institute. “She has not only contributed to the Institute financially, but she has invested her time and expertise as a mentor for the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS program.”
The Institute, a 501c3 organization, created the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS program, which provides long-term business training to female entrepreneurs from Afghanistan and Rwanda. Education is provided in both countries, as well as in the United States. Since the program’s inception in 2006, 150 women have been directly trained and educated.
In addition to business training in the classroom, the program also provides the students with a weeklong mentorship with an American woman business owner. From her office in Rochelle Park, Magnusson-Rosario mentored Farzana Ibrahimi, a businesswoman from Afghanistan, during the ’09 program.
“I am so proud to be involved with the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS program,” Magnusson-Rosario said. “Helping businesswomen on a global scale has always been a dream of mine, and mentoring Farzana helped that dream become a reality.”
InSys Consulting, a certified women-owned business, is a professional services firm that provides IT resources to Fortune 100 clients.
Magnusson-Rosario’s mentorship and the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS program has made a real impact on Ibrahimi. Since returning to Afghanistan, she has helped more than 100 Afghan women complete a computer training program, and she has started a literacy project for women in prison.
“I have to say the 2009 PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS Leadership Development was a great chance for me and for my organization, because after I come back here, my organization credit becomes better than the past,” Ibrahimi wrote in an e-mail update.
Before the mentoring component of the program, PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS students participate in In-Country Education, an intensive eight-week business course taught to 30 women in each country that culminates in the development of a business plan. Fifteen women are then selected to travel to the United States for Leadership Development for higher-level business and leadership training, as well as a weeklong mentorship with an American woman business owner and an International Women’s Economic Summit, a two-day conference focusing on the strength and contribution of women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and Rwanda, the obstacles they face, and the free economy solutions to peace. Each student is then committed to Pay it Forward, where students pass on for one full year the blessings and knowledge they have received through the program to their fellow countrymen and women.
For more information about the Institute and sponsorship opportunities, please visit www.ieew.org.
