Microenterprise Answers to your Personal Success -(MAPS) was an idea conceived back in 1994. I was working as a VISTA Volunteer (Volunteers In Service To America). VISTA is like the domestic branch of the Peace Corps. And my project was a small woman’s social justice organization. I was given the task of researching all the microenterprise programs in the U.S. that provided microenterprise grants to low-income women, and creating a proposal for a new program.
I interviewed every agency I could find, and talked to literally hundreds of providers and clients.
And I put together a comprehensive report of what services were offered, how the programs were set up, and what worked – as well as what didn’t. And then I developed a program that I felt modeled all of the best of the best of the current programs, and took out redundancies and red tape that were actually barriers.
I became passionate about microenterprise as a realistic way to help low-income women (and their children) out of poverty, because it offered them economic self-sufficiency.
The program I created was never put into place, although we did some other amazing things. But the dream of creating a microenterprise program – one that would start by providing low-income women with the funds and training to start – and then expand their own micro-business – never died. And that’s why I created this Website.
If you’re an entrepreneur who’s already started your own business – or you’re someone who wants to start one – you’ll find over 100 pages on this site with resources, information, tools, articles and strategies that will help.
Feel free to look around, check it out, and leave your comments or questions.
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