SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Women empowering women in the Global Coffee Community

Statement of Purpose

Improving the status of women is widely recognized as one of the most effective strategies for addressing other challenges facing communities around the globe today. UN Director General Kofi Annan stated, 'When women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately; families are healthier; they are better fed; their income, savings and reinvestment go up. And what is true of families is true of communities, and eventually, of whole countries.' The global coffee industry impacts over 25 million farming families around the world and benefits from the participation of women throughout the chain of trade; from farming, to commercialization to consumption. However, the benefits of the global system do not adequately reach all women contributing in the specialty coffee chain.

Women in consumer countries have made notable strides in their participation in the coffee industry in the past thirty years. Women now represent a significant portion of business owners, decision makers and key staff of coffee companies of all sizes. Although women still face some important barriers in business, for the most part, women are empowered to participate fully in the industry and to take on leadership roles that shape the future of the industry.

Women in coffee producer countries are, however, still faced with traditional prejudice that prohibits them from gaining power in their communities and the business world, even though these women are often the backbone of coffee production. Harsh conditions in coffee producer communities keep women in poverty and without voice. The biggest issues impacting women are health, education, nutrition and gender issues which reinforce their lack of empowerment. The United Nations Development Program has documented that increasing women’s education and access to resources and training improves economic development for them, their families and communities as a whole.

The International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) is a non-profit 501(C)3 organization that seeks to assure that the benefits of global trade and empowerment of women are shared throughout the coffee trade. Our board of directors brings over 280 years in the coffee industry and a wealth of experience and enthusiasm for our cause. Board members are active professionals throughout the coffee trade from agricultural production, to exporting and importing to training to sales and marketing. As women, IWCA board members understand the key challenges women face and, through their own experiences, have powerful insight into opportunities to help other women overcome those challenges. IWCA is currently an all volunteer organization.

Our goal is to develop a strong and visible network of women in the coffee industry who can share their experience, resources and contacts with others through IWCA chapters in producing and consumer countries around the world. IWCA will provide ongoing support and programs that offer women around the world an opportunity to create relationships, learn new skills and strengthen their communities. This, in turn, will make them more successful in their business endeavors, and for producing women in particular, help them access opportunities for a better, more dignified standard of living for themselves and their communities. Our model achieves this by:

• Implementing a series of training programs and educational events to aid women in three key areas: business capacity and financial literacy, empowerment and self-determination, and leadership development
• Funding startup infrastructure costs to create chapters in producing countries which will deliver training programs and provide an ongoing local support network. These chapters will target a constituency of women working in the coffee industry in small producing co-ops as well as on estates and in export and production mills (See call out box)
• Developing a mentorship program to create links between women in producing and consumer countries to share skills and experiences that will serve to enhance their capabilities
• Building a network of strategic alliances in the coffee industry to increase the reach of IWCA programs
• Providing information and access to women’s organizations and aid programs around the world to leverage knowledge, skills and resources in support of our mission
• Promoting more direct trading relationships between women buyers and producers

Some specific past successes of the IWCA include support of the following programs with funds raised through our successful networking and educational events at the annual SCAA conference:

• Providing self-powered radios to farmers in Rwanda
• Helping 200 women in Peru to expand the type and quantity of vegetables grown to supplement their diet and provide additional income to their families (1,500 people)
• Providing funds for a school and school supplies
• Contributing to cancer vaccines for 1,700 women

IWCA has close relationships with other non-profits working in the coffee industry. We recognize that good work is being done in coffee communities by a number of initiatives. Our goal is to find points of collaboration with these groups to further support the communities where they work and/or to extend benefits to women in communities that are not yet being served by these programs. In 2005, we gave donations from our fundraising efforts to five organizations to further their existing programs.

With three solid years developing our network and core fundraising events, IWCA is poised to significantly increase our impact on women in the global coffee industry. In 2007 we will further develop IWCA’s infrastructure and delivery of programs through the chapters to broaden our reach to more women. Our work will complement the efforts of other initiatives in the coffee industry, linking IWCA as a support organization that provides women with the educational resources and mentors they need to be successful.

The unique woman-to-woman connection is a primary aspect of the effectiveness of our programs. We concentrate on connecting women in business and leadership teams which focus on skill building and leadership development training that complement traditional community development programs such as micro-lending. Building on the shared experience of women and the unique confidence that woman-to-woman connections inspire, we can demonstrate valuable skill acquisition.

The expected results of these expenditures will include:

• Creation of strategic alliances between chapters and NGOs to expand impact beyond professional tier
• Improved access to education, healthcare, finances, policy making through chapter affiliations
• Improved business performance through best practices training
• More women in leadership roles
• Access to aid programs to provide a dignified standard of living for women working on farms
• Sustainable trading relationships between stronger women’s enterprises and buyers

The strength of the IWCA board and volunteer network ensures success of our programs and that return on investment of our funders is maximized. Through continued support of the specialty coffee industry and our funders, IWCA will begin to change the difficult situation that women face in producer countries around the world and empower these women to become successful entrepreneurs and leaders in their communities.