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In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Lauren Lafferty, Development Manager at Women’s Economic Ventures to learn more about how the nonprofit is dedicated to empowering women by providing small business and financial education resources in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties.
Women’s Economic Ventures
Question: What is the name of your nonprofit, and what is its mission?
Answer: Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) is a nonprofit dedicated to the economic empowerment of women – cultivating the power within each woman to realize her dreams, achieve financial independence and succeed on her own terms.
Q: How long has your organization been serving the community, and who founded it?
A: WEV was founded in 1992 by Marsha Bailey.
Q: What motivated the creation of your nonprofit?
A: Marsha Bailey was working in the Rape Crisis Center in the late 1980s. In her five years there, she met many women who did not have financial options of their own and she wanted to do something that was proactive; she saw economic development as the way. In 1992, Marsha founded WEV to provide pathways to financial independence for women and paired funding with entrepreneurial training.
There were noticeable and disproportionate barriers that affected women on their path to small business ownership; access to capital, access to affordable childcare, and access to financial education. Despite progress, these barriers continue to affect women unjustly in their pursuit of financial independence and small business success. WEV, in partnership with donors and funders, actively works to mitigate these barriers and create a more gender equitable community.
Q: How is your nonprofit primarily funded, and what are its biggest needs right now?
A: WEV is primarily funded by a mix of government, corporate, foundation, and individual contributions.
To ensure sustainability and growth, and to maintain WEV’s tremendous impact on the lives of women, the biggest areas of need right now are charitable contributions to fund WEV’s programs.
These donations make funding, financial education, and programming available to disinvested members of our community at low to no-cost.
The current areas WEV needs funding for are:
- Increasing the availability of WEV’s financial literacy education to marginalized community members.
- Increasing access to WEV’s programs and funding for low-income women starting or growing a business.
- Supporting WEV’s Spanish-language programs, including programming specific to women who own at-home daycares.
Q: How is your team structured? Have there been any major changes in your operations since you started?
A: WEV has a board of directors that oversees the organization and works in conjunction with WEV’s new CEO, Nicki Parr to best serve clients and generate impact. Nicki Parr has a background in finance, operations, and risk management, and joined WEV in 2018 to help small business owners affected by natural disasters.
She was instrumental in creating the organization’s business recovery and resilience program. After Founder, Marsha Bailey’s retirement and, subsequently, Kathy Odell’s retirement in 2024, Nicki was selected as CEO. Nicki’s team consists of dedicated WEV employees focused on program improvement, impact, client satisfaction, mission drive-success, and increasing charitable funding to women’s causes.
Q: How can people get involved with your nonprofit or volunteer?
A: A wonderful way to get involved is to join WEV’s League of Extraordinary Women. The League welcomes individuals of any gender identity who are compelled to support the mission of economic empowerment for women. This group of sustaining donors generously give an individual contribution of $1000 or more a year.
Their generosity enables WEV to offer programs to community members at low to no-cost. To recognize the support of the League, WEV offers special benefits to these extraordinary donors, including invitations to WEV events and printed recognition in the annual Impact Report and other communications. To learn more about the impact you can make as a member of the League, click here.
Q: Can you share a fun fact or little-known detail about your nonprofit that would surprise people?
A: WEV is a recognized Women’s Business Center (WBC). WBCs are a part of a national network of entrepreneurship centers throughout the nation and are designed to assist women in starting and growing small businesses.
WEV is the WBC serving Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. WBCs are uniquely important because they provide vital support and resources to women entrepreneurs, enabling them to start or grow their small businesses with free or low-cost training and mentorship, which can significantly improve chances of success and contribute positively to the economy.
WBCs are especially important for women who have been historically marginalized and face additional barriers in accessing funding and business development assistance.
Q: Could you share a story or two about individuals whose lives have been positively impacted by your organization?
A: Salustia always knew she wanted to create a nurturing space for children after seeing the positive outcomes of her son’s preschool experience. In 2020, she took the leap and opened her own home-based daycare. Two years, later, through WEV’s free, Emprendimiento program, she learned vital business skills in Spanish – her first language – in a supportive and empowering setting.
“WEV is an organization I truly admire. It came to my aid at the perfect time, providing training that helped me organize my business finances in a way that is now much easier to understand. Every day brings challenges, but the biggest one was when I chose to leave my housekeeping job to fully dedicate myself to obtaining my childcare license. Despite having very little capital, I made it happen,” said Salustia.
Alongside WEV’s business training, Salustia received a stipend that allowed her to pursue child development classes and purchase essential daycare materials. Reflecting on her growth, she shared, “I am proud to say that my biggest success has been achieving dreams I never thought possible – owning my own business, obtaining my associate teaching credential, and purchasing my first home with my husband – a dream come true, made possible by support I received from WEV.”
Salustia’s success reflects the transformative impact of investing in women. When women have access to resources, education, and financial support, they uplift not only themselves but their entire community, creating a ripple effect that benefits everyone.
Q: How do you share your nonprofit’s impact and updates with the public?
A: WEV publishes an annual Impact Report that is shared with donors, funders, community partners, and the broader public. Additionally, WEV communicates with donors throughout the year about significant changes in personnel, programming, or funding.
WEV maintains a relationship with many local media outlets to share press releases and other noteworthy news to share with their broader audiences. WEV also has an Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn channel to share client stories and impact with audiences. To learn more about WEV and follow on socials please visit wevonline.org.
Q: Is there anything important or unique about your nonprofit that we haven’t covered yet?
A: Women’s serving organizations like WEV are tremendously underfunded. Nationally, only two percent of all charitable donations are designated for women’s and girls’ causes.
WEV is a local resources ensuring barriers to economic success are available to low-income and historically disinvested women in the community.
The work is important, timely, and needed. If you would like to help accelerate change to a more gender equitable future, consider involvement with WEV or donating to the mission.
Click here to support Women’s Economic Ventures mission to cultivate the power within each woman to realize her dreams, achieve financial independence and succeed on her own terms.
Check out Noozhawk’s Guide to Giving for a full list of nonprofits to donate to this giving season.
If you would like to include your nonprofit in our Good for Santa Barbara section and Giving Guide click HERE.