#GivingTuesday 2018 is happening on November 27th — and we need your support! This holiday season, most of us are focused on family, friends, gifts, and great food. We’re celebrating our health and what’s good in our lives – and a good job is often key to many of the things we’re thankful for.
Nani Tsegaye and Elias Shawel, owners of Tadu Ethiopian Kitchen, exemplify the people we serve. The husband and wife duo are immigrants from Ethiopia who spent two years growing their 10-table restaurant, and after seeing steady profits made the decision to expand. With a thriving restaurant and over a decade of entrepreneurial experience between them, they still couldn’t get funding from banks. They came to us, and we’re proud to say their second location, House of Tadu, is now open. Elias and Nani have hired 7 new employees. Nani told us, “I’m a woman, a minority, an immigrant, and a mother. I am the people who work for me, and that means I can create better jobs because I am them.”
Help us empower entrepreneurs like Nani and Elias to create good jobs and new opportunities. Every donation helps us in our mission. Want to double your impact? See if your organization does matching gifts for employees donating to nonprofits. Thank you for your support!
In the last few years, the U.S. unemployment rate dropped below 4% for the first time in a generation. Yet almost half of American workers are stuck in low-wage jobs with little opportunity for advancement, the number of small businesses is at an all-time low, and race and where you’re born remain some of the biggest factors influencing financial success in life. Pacific Community Ventures envisions a world of thriving communities where everyone has a fair shake.
In the last year alone, support from people like you enabled us to connect 389 small businesses across all 50 states with access to capital and mentorship. That mentorship was powered by 2,400 pro bono hours from PCV business advisors – $500,000 worth of free advice and coaching! The businesses we worked with created and grew 2,583 jobs, and companies working with our advising and lending programs had 21% job growth — surpassing national (1.8%) and state (1.1%) rates.