Empowerment Square

Our empowerment approach is “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” 

and we see:

 Women Economic Empowerment = Sustainable Freedom + Longterm Independence (For women and their entire community) 

Our organization is best suited because we are one of them and are working on the ground with them right now on finding solutions to their challenges. In the past, we have designed and successfully run programs by equipping these women with tangible soft and hard skills to achieve their financial freedom. 2020 has taught us that to be successful, businesses need a strong online presence. Sellers cannot rely on in-person sales for their livelihood. In some ways, the shift to online sales has significantly leveled the commercial playing field. And yet, developing an online platform poses serious challenges for women immigrant entrepreneurs and especially women survivors of violence, including language barriers and difficulty accessing expert advice and start-up capital. Through the TVS platform, we expect to serve 20,000 women and girls in New York City alone within a period of two years through entrepreneurship and job creation.

I am a survivor of human trafficking, have been serving on the multiple advisory boards of nonprofit organizations to design Economic Empowerment programs for their clients who are women victims/survivors of domestic violence, gender-based violence, child marriage, labor trafficking, sex trafficking. Right now including many other organizations, I am serving on advisory board of the Center for Court Innovation (courtinnovation.org/) where I am developing curriculum for the national HEAL institute for survivors of human trafficking in the United States. This institute will provide leadership training and Economic Empowerment Training to the survivors of human trafficking. I have so far built two businesses, one is not-for-profit (empowermentsquare.org) and a for-profit business ( zeytunnyc.com) that provides culinary training to twenty women survivors every year. In nonprofit, in our first year of operation, we have served 70 women survivors of human trafficking with mentorship and financial education. Despite talented craftsmanship, most sales are local and limited. I am eager to change this and expand the reach of these local artisans by the creation of a curated, socially conscious, online marketplace that will not only create sales opportunities for these female vendors but will also offer comprehensive entrepreneurship and business training.

Problem: Economic Vulnerability of women and girls. Women/girls are abused, forced-marriage victims, sold, trafficked, and enslaved due to their economic vulnerability. Data shows that 85-90% of women who become victims of human trafficking and slavery globally are due to their economic vulnerability. Women and child-Labor-trafficking, which is one of the most pressing issues, exists predominantly due to the lack of economic opportunities for women. Consequently, women lack control over their lives and of their children. The underlying cause is a lack of an entrepreneurial ecosystem that offers training, networking, financial and legal advice, mentoring, and a marketplace WITHIN ONE PLATFORM. Our organization offers a solution by providing a complete, well-thought-out Entrepreneurship Ecosystem that also offers an exclusive Online MarketPlace for these underrepresented communities of women. The services include: 1-Principle motivation 2-Refining business ideas 3-Testing the business/product with limited resources 4-Planning 5-Formalizing the business/company 6-Filling the Financing Gap for women entrepreneurs from marginalized communities 7-Peer-support and community building: Exposure to successful female entrepreneurs in an emotionally safe environment for advice and mentorship 8-Support on strategies to increase sales 9-Access to human capital such as Legal Advisors, Financial Advisors 10-Support and training on balancing business and family life. That's Village Square Platform.

Our empowerment approach is “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” and we see: Women Economic Empowerment = Sustainable Freedom + Longterm Independence (For women and their entire communities) Our organization is best suited because we are one of them and are working on the ground with them right now on finding solutions to their challenges. In the past, we have designed and successfully run programs by equipping these women with tangible soft and hard skills to achieve their financial freedom. Women are significantly underrepresented in entrepreneurship. Despite their strong representation in the labor market, women remain half as likely as men to become an entrepreneur. All entrepreneurs face an uphill battle to succeed. But for women, this hill is steeper. Women are consistently unable to secure funding at the same rates as men. Women must also satisfy inconsistent and amorphous standards of behavior that investors and others demand, as well as balance motherhood, family life, and the health of their business in ways men, are not asked to do. Understanding these unique challenges and potential ways to combat them is our focus.

4 million women and girls that call New York City home, 1 in 4 are economically vulnerable, and close to 40 percent of single-mother-headed households are impoverished. We recognize entrepreneurship as a pathway to economic security that can uplift women, and with them, entire communities. It is no exaggeration to say that women’s entrepreneurship has the power to change the world—and the benefits go far beyond boosting global GDP, closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship, and fueling the growth of women-owned enterprises will unleash new ideas, services, and products into our markets. And ultimately, those forces may redefine the future. The Village Square E-Commerce platform is a Socially conscious one-stop-entrepreneurship and E-commerce platform that provides a complete ecosystem for women and girls to learn entrepreneurship, build businesses, and sell their products.

The services include: 1-Principle motivation 

2-Refining business ideas 

3-Testing the business/product with limited resources 

4-Planning 

5-Formalizing the business/company 

6-Filling the Financing Gap for women entrepreneurs 

7-Peer-support and community building: Exposure to successful female entrepreneurs in an emotionally safe environment for mentorship 

8-Support on strategies to increase sales 

9-Access to human capital 

10-Support and training on balancing business and family life