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UPS partnered with WEConnect International and awarded 40 grants to women-owned small businesses in Canada, China, Germany and the United States.
Aundrea Dumas made a promise to her mother (who became ill shortly after) that she would forever keep her memory alive. A year after losing her mother “Shirley” to a rare blood cancer, Aundrea delivered on that promise. She launched “Shirley Cakes” bakery out of her home kitchen in 2012.
SITTI began in 2014 after co-founders Noora Sharrab, Jacqueline Sofia and Safiah Abu Shanin gathered with a small group of women and several hundred of their bars of olive oil soap they made for their families and community in Jordan’s Jerash refugee camp. The co-founders were determined to create a brand around the high-quality soap and sell it outside the refugee camp so the artisans could earn a living wage.
Dr. Monika V. Kronbügel founded Global Division in 2012 with a clear understanding of values for a focus on people. “Because if the internal customer (employee) is satisfied, so is the external one,” she says. This focus has proven successful, and today her company has an international partner network in over 90 countries with a vast freelance structure of consultants, coaches, trainers and mentors, allowing she and her team to always have their finger on the pulse for the latest trends in organizational and personnel development.
Karen Gao has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. She studied and grew up in the retail industry for 12 years and had two other business start-up experiences before launching her company, Youxin Coffee. After being exposed to the coffee industry through these prior experiences, she became inspired by how boutique coffee and coffee shops bring people together and “create a connection between people.”
