The Hill News

For the past 10 years, America and Afghanistan have become uneasily intertwined. With the recent turmoil, the relationship has received another kink in the chain. However, out of upheaval comes light.

American women only gained the right to vote within the past 100 years and just look at the incredibly powerful strides which have been made in that time. We have a woman as Secretary of State. We have Fortune 500 female CEOS and women in Congressional seats. In fact, women currently hold 16.8% of the 535 seats in Congress and 17% of the 100 seats in the Senate, according to the Center for American Women in Politics. With all we have accomplished, it is our duty to pay these rights forward.

And, that is our mission at the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW). We seek to empower one woman at a time on a local and global level. We strive to do this economically, socially, and politically. The Institute accomplishes this mission with our PE! ACE THROUGH BUSINESS® program, which focuses on education, mentorship and coaching women in Afghanistan and Rwanda who are seeking to acquire entrepreneurial skills to help start and grow businesses. These are deserving women who have nowhere else to turn and who want to make a better life for themselves and their families through a dream of operating their own businesses. They are trying to do this under the worst of circumstances and against all odds. As founder and CEO of IEEW, I hold true to the belief that the best way to enrich a nation’s economy is to empower its women.

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