Helping us.We look forward to ear from you.Dr Sammy D.James

Women in Progress
Women in Progress works to achieve economic independence of women and alleviate poverty at a grassroots level in developing nations through the sustainable growth of small women-owned businesses and at the same time establishes mutual understanding among people of diverse cultures.

Volunteer Abroad
As an international volunteer organization, Women in Progress helps people volunteer abroad. Our international volunteer programs focus on assisting women in Caribbean and Latin of america. To grow their micro enterprises and become self sufficient through business and IT consulting and training.

Through volunteer opportunities abroad, you can volunteer abroad and use your skills to make a difference in the future of women and their families . Take advantage of volunteer opportunities abroad and give meaning to your travels and volunteer abroad.

International Trade.
Most developing countries recognize that economic growth and long-term sustainable development can largely be accomplished through promoting the growth of private businesses and increasing international trade. Unfortunately, small businesses typically lack access to the capital, technology, and market information necessary to compete effectively in the global market. With an even greater uphill battle are women entrepreneurs who are not provided the same opportunities and access to resources as their male counterparts.

The primary objective of the International Trade program is to enable small woman-owned businesses to enter and compete effectively in the larger national and global markets.

Building on the progress made in business and technology management through the Business Development program, volunteers assigned to the International Trade program collaborate with qualifying woman-owned businesses to accomplish various objectives:

Create and research new product concepts for exporting
Develop or refine an international trade marketing strategy
Develop and implement a quality control program for manufacturing
Determine import/export requirements and develop processes for fulfillment
Implement processes to improve the efficiency of and expand the scale of production
Align small businesses to explore cooperative efforts in order to increase capacity and allow entrepreneurs to compete more effectively in the global market
Identify financial resources required to implement a global marketing strategy
Develop Web pages to include products for sale over the Internet
Match entrepreneurs to the appropriate network of partner distributors in the U.S. and Europe.

Business Development.

Enhancing and sustaining the growth of woman-owned enterprises through the implementation of business and technology best practices is the foundation of the Business Development program. As more developing nations turn to free-market systems to further economic growth, Women in Progress provides the business support and information technology tools needed to assist well-prepared women entrepreneurs to take advantage of an expanding global marketplace.

Women business owners that are selected to participate in the Business Development Program are assigned a dedicated consulting team, which typically consists of full-time staff members of Women in Progress, and foreign and local volunteers with expertise in business and/or technology. Believing that local women entrepreneurs already recognize what is required to expand their businesses, the activities of the project team will be driven and owned by the local women.

All projects are customized to the specific needs of each woman-owned business. The following activities are generally performed through the Business Development program:
Develop a realistic business plan, which includes measurable objectives, required tasks and estimated timeline for implementation
Establish an efficient process for tracking finances
Provide access to technology needed to improve productivity (i.e. computerized versus manual accounting, budgeting, more efficient means for marketing and promotion, communicating with clients/vendors via email, etc.)
Research and test the viability of expanding to new markets
Align businesses in the same or complimentary markets to enhance their capacity and allow them to access new and larger markets that would be unobtainable individually
Assist in obtaining affordable loans required for business expansion
To ensure a project has met the pre-defined objectives, volunteers typically remain in contact with the client businesses for at least six months after their departure. Women in Progress staff play a critical role as they provide continuity among transitioning volunteers, ongoing support for the clients, and ensure achievement of the long-term project objectives.

Training & Support

Women in Progress primarily partners with other organizations to provide basic business and technology workshops. The training seminars that Women in Progress does design and deliver tend to be more advanced business and technology workshops that are specific to particular industries. Women in Progress supports a collaborative approach to training that fosters group discussion and encourages creative thinking, not pushing western ways. Our objective is to put the resulting business and technology best practices into action through the Business Development or International Trade programs.

Young women also benefit from the Training & Support program. Through guest speaking opportunities in local schools, Women in Progress plants the seed of entrepreneurialism early in a young woman’s career by teaching basic business and technology concepts. The goal is to train, encourage and mentor young women so that will have the courage and access to resources to participate successfully in the global economy.

Courses topics and levels offered depend entirely on the needs of the local women entrepreneurs. However, courses generally fall into the following categories:
Specialized Business Training
Advanced courses for specific industries/trades that focus on topics such as accessing capital, strategic planning, product development, quality control, forecasting, and exporting.
Business-Focused Computer Training
Intermediate technology training for accounting, marketing and other business-specific software applications.
Advanced technical training in areas such as computerized inventory management and Internet marketing.
Volunteers teach the majority of courses based on their areas of expertise. Local professors, business professionals, and technology experts will also be invited to teach courses.

A Women's Technology Center is managed by Women in Progress at each location and provides human support for general business development, in addition to access to computers for productivity tools such as office applications, accounting software, marketing programs, and email. Classroom facilities for business courses and a computer lab for technology training are also available.