EMPOWERED WOMEN INTERNATIONAL INC

EWI is an award-winning nonprofit organization that channels the creative talents of our clients – low-income, immigrant, and refugee women — into small businesses that create jobs and a new generation of leaders and entrepreneurs. We are the only organization of our kind in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

EWI offers a three-month entrepreneurial business incubator, mentoring and training program, coaching, mentoring and a micro-enterprise program that opens new markets and generate income for our start-up entrepreneurs. Our programming helps our beneficiaries many who are artists, artisans, and other creative entrepreneurs to increase their income, achieve upward economic mobility, integrate into American society, participate in, and give back to their communities.

EWI Founder and Executive Director Marga Fripp, a native of Romania, immigrated to the United States in 2001, leaving behind a career in journalism and the non-profit organization she founded, the Association for the Promotion of Women Romania (APoWeR). While she was highly accomplished in her home country and an integral and influential member of her professional and civic communities, in the U.S. she struggled to overcome language and cultural barriers as well as prejudices about her capabilities. She found herself isolated and was unable to find work opportunities, integrate, or fully participate in and contribute to her new community.

In response to her own experience of isolation and drawing on her past experiences empowering women in need, Marga founded Empowered Women International in 2002 to serve as a network of support for immigrant and refugee women. She opened a gallery in Alexandria, VA to create a community for immigrants and to showcase and celebrate their cultural contributes, such as cuisine, crafts, art, and clothing. She received an overwhelming response and learned that there were many immigrant women who had been established professionals in the creative industries in their home countries, but did not understand the American business culture or how to market themselves. Marga realized that she could enrich the cultural experiences of her community while simultaneously helping these women to use their art to improve their lives through community participation, integration, and entrepreneurship. In 2004, Marga expanded the scope of EWI to include workforce development services and mentoring.

Today, EWI serves more than 200 women each year by providing mentoring and education that teaches entrepreneurship and practical workforce readiness skills. EWI also creates opportunities for women beneficiaries to interface with their communities to cultivate professional connections and establish new friendships.

Each year, EWI organizes several culturally diverse art programs to promote and share EWI artists’ work, as well as build multicultural understanding and art appreciation in our local communities. These presentations attract more than 2,500 audience members every year and include special exhibitions, such as our annual We the People program, performances, local artist markets, workshops, museum collaboration projects, and art teaching programs. In addition to this community outreach, EWI works in schools, community organizations, and recreation centers around the area to bring art and cultural programs to children and youth who otherwise might not have access to the arts. One example of this is our Girls Empowerment Project that was launched in the fall of 2010 and reaches out to low-income girls ages 10+ to develop multicultural understanding and self-confidence by understanding entrepreneurship through the arts.

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