Thank you for joining us for our tenth annual Empower Her World fundraiser! We hope you will enjoy our global marketplace, international food, fun live and silent auctions, a fashion show, and moving stories from women around the world. Over the past decade we have trained over 500 women in business development and financial literacy and with your help, we will easily train 500 more.

We are asking for your help in changing the way women think about money, business, and their worth at home and in places all around the world. From a small village in Zambia to a group home in the bustling capital of Ecuador, we are meeting women where they are to give them the skills they need to make a living for themselves and transform their own communities.

Did you know the United Nations reports 388 million women live in extreme poverty internationally (living on $1.90 per day or less)? Women still only earn 77 cents for every dollar a man makes and, at the current rate, it will take 257 years to close that gap. Not to mention, women living in fear of domestic violence: globally, 26% of ever-partnered women aged 15 or older have experienced physical or sexual violence from their intimate partners.

In 2022 and 2023 we partnered with Casa Mis Sueños in Quito, Ecuador, an organization that supports victims of sex trafficking and exploitation. We trained mentors of young women engaged in the program so they could provide interpersonal support and equip them for a successful life after trafficking. As we look to our future, we hope that you will support our mission so we can continue providing training and resources to Casa Mis Sueños.

Also in this time period, we trained over 30 women in Chongwe and Lusaka, Zambia. A majority of the women in the program have children with cerebral palsy, meaning your support will help them to better care for themselves and their dependents with disabilities. One of the women we trained was able to buy a bicycle to take her child to school, rather than carrying him, because she learned about saving in Unlocking Your Design.

Thank you again for doing your part to change the financial futures of women around the world.

Jk O'Donnell's Basket