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Made in Brownsville wants to make technology and design/build creativity accessible to at-risk youth in Brownsville. We seek to employ youth to learn iterative design, fabrication, multimedia marketing and communication skills to give them the technical and leadership tools they need to change the narrative for themselves and their community. We believe that there are incredible gifts in Brownsville youth that can be triggered through actively engaging their interest through science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) content; and bridging the gap between them and opportunities to exercise those principles with real projects. Made in Brownsville engages at-risk youth to change the narrative and reality of violence and chronic disease through community organizing, planning and design.

Founded in 1974, Homeward Bound of Marin strives to end homelessness in our community with training, housing and hope. Our programs range from emergency shelter to permanent supportive housing for families and individuals, combined with services like counseling and job training that help residents build a sustainable, independent future. We also operate several social enterprise businesses, including production of Wagster Treats dog biscuits and The Key Room event venue, that offer hands-on work experience to students and graduates while earning revenue to support our programs. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, Homeward Bound plans to open 50 new units of housing for veterans and people moving back into the workforce.

Fundacion Via Cocina is a community based project focused on improving the health and economic development of vulnerable women, youth and underprivileged in Medellin Colombia. With a personalized training and mentoring system sharing healthy food recipes, cooking techniques and applied financial planning and entrepreneurial small business fundamentals, we build a program for individuals and families based on their current reality, applying the training to objectives created with them, for them, in their own home. Additionally, we provide classes to individuals and groups who want to learn to cook healthy dishes with local ingredients for their families, transforming them into uncommon flavors that are low in fat, oil, salt and sugar-free. These activities look to decrease frequency and severity of non-communicable diseases in the communities, including obesity, diabetes and cholesterol.

Our primary organizational goals and accompanying objectives are to build the capacity of families to become increasingly self-sufficient through comprehensive strategies that provide needed resources and opportunities for 1) high quality career planning and assessment services that encourage the selection of careers which are suitable to the individual and that pay a living wage; 2) education and training related to the chosen career and to life skills in general; 3) connections with potential employers and community members able to open doors to meaningful employment; 4) the removal of barriers to self-sufficiency; 5) facilitation of healthy family functioning; and 6) the empowerment of program participants to engage in self-advocacy. Project Self-Sufficiency also seeks to prevent the continuation of poverty from generation to generation through a series of interventions that support and educate families while modeling successful behaviors by adults for children.

Arts on the Block, a nonprofit arts organization with a nearly 20-year history in the region, is the only hands-on studio art apprenticeship program in the region offering youth and young adults the opportunity to learn about art, design, and business by engaging in real-world public art commissions. We recruit, train, place, and support youth and young adults with art and design aptitudes who might not ordinarily be introduced to entry-level jobs and career paths in the creative industries. AOB apprentices join one of our existing studio crews led by master teaching artists and supported by a team of management professionals. AOB crew members work their way up through summer intensives and year-round projects to produce large-scale mosaic public art. Along the way, they receive customized professional skills training, connect with our creative network, and pursue individualized plans for success in creative careers.

Who We Are: The need for a grassroots organization that would galvanize communities across Africa to positively contribute towards sustainable management of natural resources was an idea born out of a discussion by a group of environment and natural resource management practitioners gathered in Arusha Tanzania in 2010. The idea was subsequently shared with other like-minded individuals and culminated in the formation and subsequent registration of Africa Nature Organization as Non-Governmental Organization on the World Wetlands Day 2nd February 2012 in Kenya. Our focus has been to promote sustainable environmental and natural resource management best practices among grassroots communities working closely with civil society organizations, private sector actors and Government. Our Vision: A well-managed environment and natural resource base benefiting People and Wildlife. Our Mission: To enhance sustainable management of environment and natural resources by empowering grassroots communities, supporting development of effective natural resource management instruments, promotion of green innovations and the advancement of wise-use practices. Programmes: Our work is organized around three themes. These are conservation, people's organizations and livelihoods. 1. Environmental Education and Awareness Sustained environmental education and awareness campaigns have been known to change the behavior and attitudes of stakeholders towards environment and natural resources. Africa Nature Organization environmental education and awareness campaigns target both the young and the old through targeted campaigns such as the Young People4Nature Initiative, environmental demonstrations, environmental days, cross-site visits, workshops and seminars are some of the activities in this category. 2. Conservation of Species and Habitats With the threat of species extinction and habitat loss aggravated by climate change, Africa Nature Organization has taken a special interest in the conservation of species and habitats through rehabilitation, restoration and protection. Afforestation on terrestrial areas, coral transplant in marine ecosystems, dyke construction, development of management plans, support for community guards to protect and monitor species and habitats are some of the activities undertaken to reduce species and habitat loss. 3. Enterprise-led Conservation (ECO) Communities for ages have depended on natural resources for their livelihoods. However, with dwindling natural resource base due to extraction of natural resources for commercial purposes, population increase and climate changes, communities have trapped in a vicious cycle of destroying environment and natural resources for survival. To stem this downward spiral, Africa Nature Organization works with grassroots communities to empower them with business skills and knowledge to initiate nature-friendly enterprises and link them with markets. 4. Research and Innovation for Conservation (RI-Conserve): Relevant information to undertake important decisions regarding natural resources has been an impediment to sustainable management of environment and natural resources. This has been more profound with grassroots communities and organizations, including government, working to empower them to sustainably manage environment and natural resources. To bridge the information gap, Africa Nature Organization undertakes research and develops innovative ways of overcoming environmental challenges facing communities, civil society organizations, private organizations and governments. Baseline surveys, environmental impact assessments, documentation of indigenous knowledge on biological resources, and innovative mobile technology for conservation are some of the activities undertaken in this category. 5. Conservation Communication (COCO): Communicating conservation information to relevant stakeholders is key in to their engagement and involvement in our conservation effort. Conservation Communication maintains stakeholder interest through: Newsletter, Development and distribution of environmental documentaries, Production of other education, information and communication materials.

1812ada provides education, employment advocacy and transitional planning. They are dedicated to assisting our members with identifying the necessary resources needed to succeed in schools and the workplace. They are devoted to assisting our members to ensure that they receive their reasonable accommodation as specified by their medical professionals.

Kuhn Employment Opportunities, Inc. is a non-profit human services organization committed to helping people with disabilities find and retain employment as well as participate in meaningful day support programs. From its humble beginnings in 1962 using Ernest B. Kuhn's small garage to serve a handful of young people, Kuhn has grown to approximately 450 participants who are supported in a variety of diverse programs. The agency provides person-centered program planning, job skill assessment opportunities, job development, on-the-job training and supervision, and transportation services to meet individual needs. Kuhn serves people with developmental, intellectual, and psychiatric disabilities in Meriden, Middletown, and the twenty surrounding towns. For more information, visit www.kuhngroup.org.

Our Why IAEOU was founded because of our founder, Lisa Canning's, experience as a small business owner. Now 53, Lisa Canning has successfully been self-employed since the age of 17. Her first venture was a successful 12-million-dollar business in the music business with little to no investment except for the use of personal credit cards. When she did qualify for bank loans, after 4 years, her 20+ percent continuous annual and profitable growth, for more than 15 years, required ongoing investments that were hampered by banks who were risk adverse. Advisors and mentors interested in the growth of her small business were far and few between despite her being recognized as a Top 200-retailer (in a male dominated 'boys-club' industry), being routinely quoted in trade magazines and appearing on their covers, and being named by the National Association Women Business Owner of The Year in Chicago, Illinois. Since our inception in 2006, IAEOU has been focused on our founder mission to help under-served small business owners, especially women, find the resources they need to transform their ideas into sales and build the channels to market they need to grow and raise the capital they need to rise and thrive. At its core IAEOU is about helping those least served-those in small business who like our founder have viable business models that are offered few if any resources, struggle to access bank loans and who may not yet be investable by Angels or Venture Capitalists. Our Early Years to Present In our early years, IAEOU's family and friends supported the launch, advancement and development of our incubator, The IAE- The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship, for the creative sector in Illinois. It was an experiment to see how quickly we could help small business owners find new sales and channels to market, as often this is the only way creatives in small businesses can survive and find any investment resources they need to grow. IAE achieved a 97% success rate with over 200 small business owners, helping them to find new sales and new channels to market. Our success brought us recognition by The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) and the White House for our innovative education to helping under-served entrepreneurs thrive. Our academic model was published by USASBE by Elgar Publishing in the Annals of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy in 2014. We were also invited to speak on the first ever creative industries panel at the 6th Annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi, Kenya in 2015. That recognition propelled our 501c3 forward into a global arena resulting in the introduction to IAEOU's co-founder Scott Gillespie, and to the founders of The JOBS ACT, Jason Best and Sherwood Neiss, from Crowdfund Capital Advisors. Scott is a growth adviser, investor and mentor to ventures (micro) around the globe; helping founders to transform their: ideas into products, products into sales, and ventures into businesses. Scott splits his time architecting regional startup ecosystems (macro) in: Australia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Palestine, Jordan, USA, Malaysia, and Colombia. As Founder and Director of theJigsaw Group, a business accelerator Scott and his team connect: founders, talent, customers, markets, and channels; with global opportunities. Jigsaw Group investment portfolio ranges from office fit out (UAE Compare), to new media (BTG Studios) and online education (co-founder IAEOU). To learn more about Scott go to ABOUT at the bottom of our website iaeou.me Shortly after Scott came on board, The IAE closed its physical doors, created a new partnership with Crowdfund Capital Advisors as their educational arm, and became a virtual accelerator called IAEOU- Vowels are to words what creativity is to business- basic and necessary. Why is creativity so basic and so necessary to business? Because growing a business is challenging! It takes a lot of creativity and ingenuity to mature from a startup into a venture with growing sales, viable products, adequate funding, and a team prepared for growth- especially without access to resources others who are considered more scalable gain access to far more quickly. And you have to be strong enough to fund raise which means you have to have traction and sales. The competition for survival weeds out >50% in 5 years according to the US Bureau of Labor. Once a venture achieves breakeven, our research suggests that a SME (small and medium sized businesses) #1 goal is to secure 'more sales' to build a robust pipeline (few if any businesses ever say they have 'too many sales'); yet the majority openly admit plans are easy and sales management is hard. Albion Ventures Growth Report 2013, examined the challenges faced by 450 SMEs with a combined turnover of over 1.6B and found that the biggest gap in the small business skillset is SALES. And because of IAEOU's success skilling SME's in sales; and based on Crowdfund Capital Advisors global research advising 50+ countries on how to build financial ecosystems for entrepreneurs, as well as working with over 100 startups, and because of their research supporting that online traction is critical to SME's online funding success; we have spent the last few years building our abilities to help entrepreneurs globally find sales and build their social media skill building to find key influencers and investors. Together with CCA we have worked on projects with entrepreneurs for The World Bank, Climate Innovation Center in Kenya; International Development Bank in partnership with the Universidad Anahuac in Mexico, and delivered social media education to Virl Microfinance, the largest microfinance fund in Zimbabwe. These projects lead us, 18 months ago, to launch a training program in Pakistan to help women who otherwise are discouraged from working to become social media marketing specialists who are focused on finding sme's sales and new channels to market. Part of the challenges entrepreneurs face is the need for lead generation and marketing support at a low price. We spun off this project under the IAEOU umbrella and named it Sana's Kitchen after the woman in Lahore who is our partner. See more at SanasKitchen.me To date, we have perfected our education process and have been steadily working with clients successfully. Now we are partnering with a large training organization in Lahore, Pakistan called Loop.org.pk founded and run by a woman, Faiza Khalid, who shares our values and vision. With the passing of Title III of the JOBS act becoming a living law on May 16, 2016 in the United States, regular Americans (a.k.a. unaccredited investors), now have the opportunity to invest in ventures (incorporated as businesses, not for profits and B corps) they use everyday and in entrepreneurs they believe in. This allows family, friends, colleagues and peers to make investments of $10 or $100,000 to accelerate IMPACT and earn, real returns. We are in need of Global Giving's support because while we have part 1 of our mission just about ready to scale- to build an affordable resource through Sana's Kitchen to help SME's access sales and new channels to market- part 2 of our mission requires additional staff to create a parallel ongoing effort to reach key influencers and investors to build traction for their fundraising efforts through crowdfunding. IAEOU has recently been invited to become a key partner to a newly forming association too for the State of Illinois- The Illinois Business Innovation Association. Founded by Carol Abrahamson, a former valley venture capitalist and the founder of over 13 not for profits and 7 for profit businesses, our goal is to serve the over 200 incubator and accelerators in Illinois. We already have the support of the Governor's Office and have been invited into participating in numerous Bi-Centennial Events. We also are co-creating the newly created Great Lakes Innovation Summit bringing together the managers of incubators and accelerators across 5 states and Canada. Entrepreneurship is critical to the life of economies globally and to individuals, their families and the communities they serve. For the first time entrepreneurs (who come in all genders, ethnic heritage and represent a wide variety of causes) can use crowdfunding methods to engage with communities of origin, communities of interest, communities of geography and communities of diaspora to raise capital for their businesses. But this opens the door to more questions we need a new hire to help us to help them answer like: Where do I go to find my supporters that have capital? What is the right type of campaign for my initiative? What is the process to getting listed on one of these websites? How do I create a campaign that sells my vision to my potential backers? How do I approach the social network I am building for sales and new channels to market back my campaign? How do I stay compliant with the law? How do I use my crowd not just for money but knowledge, experience and relationships? How do I keep my investors informed about what I'm doing without diluting my efforts at running my business? What are investors looking for? What are the keys to success? As the 3 year-old fledging Regulation Crowdfunding industry takes shape, IAEOU wants to provide the under-represented especially female-owned, women of color, and social enterprises, access to answers to the above questions and best practices in education and training to help them become prepared to raise funds. Through the development of their social media and sales skill building we will help them find their audience and access the capital they need. We are so close to realizing our goal to connect these efforts to their fund-raising needs and believe with Global Giving's support we can overcome our staffing hurdle to fully realize our mission.