You know you're making a difference when the State Department bring an international group of women to visit with the Burning River Coffee Community (BRCC). And wow, what a group they were!
In August 2013, a State Department-sponsored visitors group from Israel and the Palestinian Territories visited with some BRCC members at the Embrace Pet Insurance offices here in Cleveland, Ohio.
If the women of the world coming together from a region fraught with strife is not a sign for hope for peace in the region, I don't know what is.
The 9 women were focusing on the topic of advancing women entrepreneurs and ranged in careers from University Professors to Directors of NGOs to entrepreneurs, and their goal for visiting with the BRCC was to learn about BRCC's role as a tool to advance women entrepreneurs.
By all accounts, we did a great job of sharing our experiences with these fascinating women and we learned so much from our visitors (proudly, I can say our visitors noted it was the best part of their Cleveland program - of course!)
Questions (and our answers) ranged from:
- How difficult is it to set up a company in Ohio? So much easier than back home for them, and we don't have multitudes of checkpoints to get through just to get around
- How do you get entrepreneurs to move beyond expecting a handout from the government? The entrepreneurs self-select themselves to be that kind of person around here, and
- What kind of courses does BRCC offer? We don't offer any courses but we spread the word on the multitude of offerings in the region and online, plus we run informal mentoring sessions led by experienced entrepreneurs on topics of interest to less experienced entrepreneurs
I'm hoping that we may get a guest post or two from some of the members of the group after they've recovered from their 2 week trip to the US.
About the program that brought our special guests to the BRCC:
The group of 9 female entrepreneurs from Israel and Palestinian territories came to the U.S. as part of the State Department’s International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Through short-term visits to the United States, current and emerging foreign leaders experience this country firsthand and cultivate lasting relationships with their American counterparts. Each year over 300 international visitors in a variety of fields come to Cleveland through the IVLP program. This particular group was focused on showcasing women's entrepreneurial advancement in the U.S. and examining innovative ways of overcoming roadblocks that impede the achievement of their goals.
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