Women of the World
Enabling refugee women's self-reliance
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Starting With Why Women of the World is mission-driven. We believe our work is improved when we work with a sense-of-purpose and set clear goals for ourselves and our ladies. Founded by engineers, we are highly analytical and attempt to assess needs and program efficiencies with data. WHY To care about refugees is to recognize the divinity in the eyes of the most vulnerable, to engage instead of looking away. HOW We offer a supportive, collaborative planning service to help our ladies find the opportunities that will most quickly help them achieve self-reliance. WHAT We are a boutique women refugee service provider taking on issues and providing capacity building at all times after resettlement. Self-Sufficiency Program Goals are only the beginning for the women we assist. Once a goal is set the outcome is one of the best ways to measure for progress. Women of the World encourages and enables our ladies to strive for tangible outcomes.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Women Refugee Critical Service Care
In the best cases, the service activities of the Women of the World serve as a bridge between resettlement and graduation from an educational institution and/or self-sufficiency in employment or entrepreneurship; however, studies show that there will continue to be a component of refugee women that are unable to learn English or gain employment and that will require both critical care and ongoing service to survive.4 As has been detailed before, women refugees are more likely to be psychologically or physically scarred, have fewer jobs skills from their native land, are more likely to be isolated in their homes or in “immigrant enclaves,” and have a higher instance of illiteracy than their male counterparts all contributing to a greater service need.
Wellness is the key output from the service program. Women’s ability to access quality affordable healthcare for themselves and their children enhances their physical and mental strength for the difficult job of relocating. When women are informed about proper health and hygiene practices they are more likely to develop a self-sufficient lifestyle that is financially successful. Cultural differences can make the simplest health or hygiene task unknowable in the host country – without education; women suffer in unhealthy or unsanitary conditions.
Key outputs from the Service Programs of Women of the World are:
• Donations from the Utah Foodbank are distributed weekly at the Women of the World offices with two cooking classes throughout the year using the most prevalent ingredients donated.
• Eight workshops held per year with thirty or more women attending.
• Monthly wellness events held with thirty or more women attending.
• All women have cases and needs-benefits analysis located at the Women of the World offices.
• $15,000 allocated for critical service needs and distributed with priority to need. Never greater than $2000 for any single item.
Women Refugee Employment and Entrepreneurship
Impact in Employment & Entrepreneurship
Local conditions in Salt Lake City support the need of developing a job skills program specifically for refugee women. With relatively low unemployment of 6.9 percent (April 2011) for the entire population 16 and older but only 60.9 percent of women employed, Utah has more demand for female workforce skills than male.2 A large traditional LDS population that promotes large families (requiring childcare and homecare) or stay-at-home mothers (reducing native female workforce) fuels a demand for employing female immigrants.
Aside from child and homecare entrepreneurship, refugee women’s handcrafts and catering are a developing market in Salt Lake City – especially as the culture becomes more cosmopolitan and diverse. Etsy.com the largest online retailer of handcrafts in the American market reported a 73 percent increase in sales by its community in April 2011 as compared to the same month in 2010.3 Women of the World can partner with Global Artisans, a component of the Utah Refugee Coalition, while developing a broader market on websites such as etsy.com or ebay.com. Further opportunities will be developed in native language instruction (local and online), cosmetic and hairstyling, and tailoring.
Community Development
Impact in Education
According to the Utah Refugee Service Office’s 2010 data, refugee resettlement has increased an average of 25 percent for each of the last three years. According to the Director of Utah’s Refugee Services Office, Gerald Brown, there are approximately 60,000 refugees in Utah, 20,000 are children, and 35,000 are adult women.1
Women of the World’s client files include 800 families with the majority of the matriarchs in these families having Limited English Proficiency or no English skills. These women have actively sought out Women of the World for their casework needs and are committed to their personal development. The distinguishing characteristics that support their need for an English Language Learner (ELL) program, independent of other programs and isolated from other communities, include:
• First, refugee women are primarily isolated in the home. This significantly decreases their access to English education and a support network.
• Second, no programs exist in the Salt Lake City region that actively recruits refugee women to leave their homes and to engage their communities in productive ways, supported with provided childcare, English classes, and job skills. The act of learning together will bolster community and will fuel the growth of strong support networks.
• Third, the development of a population of refugee women educated in English will reduce program costs for interpreters as a service-ethic is reproduced in women who want to give back to newer refugees during healthcare, childcare/education, or in advocacy situations.
• Fourth, by using daytime ELL classes with childcare as the fundamental social network for new refugees, a multiethnic group of women can develop language, job, and entrepreneurial skills while supporting one another, free of ethnic community bias (i.e. Sunni versus Shi’a or Tutsi versus Hutu), that has been seen as a hurdle in the past.
Where we work
External reviews
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Additional revenue and wages generated attributable to the organization's efforts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
Women Refugee Employment and Entrepreneurship
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Economic Empowerment Monetary Benefit: A client outcome that increases the revenue of the client such as getting a job or higher wage. This is calculated on an annual basis, such as if a woman earns
Number of jobs created and maintained
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
Women Refugee Employment and Entrepreneurship
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Women of the World tracks both job applications and jobs started as an outcome of our Economic Empowerment Program.
Number of resumes written
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
Women Refugee Employment and Entrepreneurship
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Women of the World works with its clients to fill out job applications and resumes so they can get a job on their path to self-reliance.
Hours of mentoring
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
Women Refugee Critical Service Care
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
An output of our activities that tracks the hours of appointments by our Case Managers. Does not include volunteer hours. *Greatly reduced due to COVID-19
Expenses reduced attributable to the organization's efforts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Immigrants and migrants
Related Program
Women Refugee Critical Service Care
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Sum of Service Dollars Saved: A client outcome that decreases the expenses of a client such as advocating for the reduction or elimination of a debt. If a $600 hospital bill was mistakenly charged t
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Customized Case Management
- Improve Collaboration
- Better integration of volunteer capital
Practical English Program (“PEP")
- Hire a part-time teacher
Regular programming for Women
- Economic Empowerment
- Communicate with employers to educate about our women's needs
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
1. 1-year PEP goal
a. 3 college-bound intensive English + 3 practical intensive English in this year. (Summer break and Ramadan break needed)
i. Each intensive course is 3 months long, 4 times per week, for 4 hours per day.
ii. 12 students maximum per course.
iii. 1 PEP teacher per class. Teacher assistant needed for coverage and help in classroom activities. Stipend needs to be negotiated.
b. $150 tuition per course needs to be discussed.
2. 3-year PEP goal
a. All the 1-year goals plus…
b. All classes look to increase customized content and depth
i. Add custom vocabulary based on their planned major (college-bound) or for their unique business or personal situation (practical curriculum)
a. College-bound intensive English
i. Need greater partnership with University of UT to reduce client barrier to entry when client applies to university.
1. All courses held and special guest invited from UofU campus
ii. Likely increase in number of clients and courses.
b. Practical Intensive English
i. Likely increase in number of clients and courses that will require more classroom space.
c. Ebook publication
i. Would like to publish the textbook as an ebook to offset expenses
a. For the majority of our clients (over 300), WoW has developed a plan for them to successfully navigate their resettlement benefits, immigration, healthcare, housing, and/or legal issues through a large number of partners both private, public, and non-profit.
b. Counting the ED, WoW employees 3 case workers who work 120 per week on the various issues facing the clients of WoW. With the exception of PEP classes, 100% of the usage of the WoW office is for the Customized Service Program.
c. Most of the volunteers work in Customized Service, befriending refugee women and helping them with their English and other smaller household issues
2. 1-year goal
a. Partnership with other refugee service organization has been below average since WoW's inception. We need to make in-roads with personnel to develop trust and develop protocols for co-casework, transfers, and funding these shared activities.
i. Need both a data-driven approach to show the increased impact on client quality of life when other refugee service organizations partner with WoW and…
ii. A campaign to extend an olive branch and build understanding.
b. Need to understand timing for likely increases in refugee populations and how this impacts need for new case workers.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Women of the World has achieved a great deal with the lean staffing (3 staff members) thanks to our committed BoD and volunteers. Furthermore, Women of the World is a data driven organization to works to build our impacts into our daily deliverables using a logic model to explain how an organization's activities translate into outcomes for its clients.
Started with a “business process" approach first before developing tools or procedures.
Recruited US-AID & BYU professor to brainstorm best approach
Casework/Volunteer notecards & surveys
Paper is still primary
Reduces burden on Case Managers/Workers to do paperwork.
Accessible to clients
Data entry temp or administrative assistant required
Business Intelligence development ongoing
Need readily accessible access to:
Dashboards of outputs & outcomes (Development & Executive teams)
Casefile entry and information (Casework teams)
Have a free version of Salesforce as a starting point
Reduces LT maintenance concerns
Not exactly a case management “fit"
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In 2016, Women of the World increased the output of service and capacity building from its programs and saw corresponding growth in the impact on the well being of the refugee women we serve. Our ladies started more new jobs, started college more often, and took bigger steps to self-reliance than ever before. The women that started with WoW six years ago are now self-sufficient and their daughters are starting to enter university with our guidance.
In 2017, Women of the World's custom service will be in greater demand than ever. Immigration issues for existing clients and their banned family members will increase. Custom counseling services for women in duress over policies outside their control will dramatically increase even though outcome-based solutions will be difficult to attain. Women of the World has already increased its partnership and advocacy efforts with local government to respond to discrimination our ladies are at an increased risk of facing.
Women of the World functions across language groups but targets women who have the same problems: language-advanced children misbehaving, poor job mobility, discrimination, and the lack of a diverse social safety net. A primary solution for each of these issues is communication ability in English. WoW hopes to supplement the language services provided by partner organizations to ensure that refugees in our community receive the highest quality education.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Women of the World
Board of directorsas of 02/08/2022
Debbie Mintowt-Czyz
No Affiliation
Term: 2020 - 2022
Swati Sharma
Adobe
Julie McAdams
University of Utah
Joelle Kanshepolsky
Pathway Consulting
Alexx Goeller
Evan Strassberg
Allison Blais
Adobe
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as: