Dear Friends, We hope your new year is off to a positive start. We look forward to the privilege of working with you in 2024 and serving more women entrepreneurs, helping to improve their lives, and their communities. In our 10-year history, we have provided over $850,000 in support to the women-owned businesses in our WEALF family. Our program provides them both capital, through loans and business advice through a mentoring program like no other. Their businesses encompass just about every sector of the economy and are as unique as the women that run them. Categories include specialty food, technology, fashion, pet supplies, childcare, beauty and wellness products, toys and so much more. This newsletter features our women in green businesses. Green industries will make a better world for all of us. We applaud them for finding alternative ways to do business, for saving energy, using clean systems, lowering emissions, reusing, recycling, and promoting sustainability. Green looks good on women! Wouldn’t you agree? They could also use some green in the form of more financial support, like our no-interest loans and venture capital to build their businesses. How can you join our community? Here are a few ways to spread the WEALF. Check out our entrepreneurs’ websites. Pass this message along to your network and encourage them to subscribe to our newsletter. Reach out to WEALF.org if you are interested in being a WEALF mentor  Consider donating to WEALF in the name of that special person that is your future (child, grandchild, student, etc.) Thank you and happy new year! Let’s make it the best one yet for women entrepreneurs! Sincerely, Vicki Weiner WEALF Founder An ecopreneur is defined as one who cultivates green business with the help of green practices. A green entrepreneur consciously addresses an environmental or social problem/need through the understanding of entrepreneurial ideas. The objective of the green entrepreneur is both serving the customer with their green products or services and making people aware of the green ecosystem. The products and services of WEALF’s eco-entrepreneurs are helping people and companies participate in a variety of ways. We would like to introduce you to six women eco-entrepreneurs who not only make reducing the carbon footprint their goal but their life work. These innovative eco-entrepreneurs are proving you can build a successful business while maintaining environmentally sustainable practices. Ecopreneurs need our support. According to the State of Finance for Nature Report 2022, nature-based solutions are grossly underfunded, with approximately $200 billion invested vs $7 trillion invested in activities that have a negative impact on nature. Like other participants in the WEALF family, these entrepreneurs have trouble securing funding through traditional services and are turning to alternate funding sources. For over 10 years, WEALF has filled a gap for underserved entrepreneurial women in New York providing interest-free loans, one-on-mentoring with professional businesswomen, and a supportive community. We are proud to provide these services to women ecopreneurs and help this emerging field grow. Global work begins locally. We invite you to discover more about these incredible New York women by visiting their websites to explore their mission, services and products. We know they will inspire you as much as they inspire all of us at WEALF.    WALKSPAN Founder Bernardita Calinao, PhD, created Walkspan, a data-driven and location intelligence technology firm dedicated to identifying a neighborhood’s character and the walking experience to improve quality of life. Walkspan measures the highest number of walkability and lifestyle essentials for neighborhood selection and smart city planning. The easy-to-use platform rates walkability features, including natural and manmade beauty, utility, safety, comfort, access, vibrance, interest, architecture, and social equity. These scenarios, formerly exclusive to urban planners, are now available to homebuyers, renters and travelers and most importantly, city planners. PO CAMPO Founder Maria Boustead turned her love of cycling into an eco-friendly, affordable, way to get exercise and adventure. Cycling is also one of the answers for individuals to participate in decreasing the carbon footprint. Maria's products are bicycle accessories that are built with durable, sustainable fabrics that last and look great. Po Campo is part of the growing trend adopted by cities to make bicycles accessible. Soon to celebrate 15 years in business, in 2023 Po Campo hit a major milestone for revenues. NEW MONEY  (APP NAME: Neu Climate)  Founder NaJin Kim developed the app, Neu Climate, a virtual "carbon health coach to get you started on your climate journey." The product is a plug-in smart carbon health monitor that you can access on a phone app for your real-time carbon health. The app even gamifies your carbon health progress with ways to complete quests and get climate cash. GREEN IN BKLYN Founder Elissa Olin was a pioneer in the field when she created her store in 2009.  The store is a one-stop shop where people who would like to live an eco-friendly lifestyle – and those who already do – can find information and the products they need to easily and innovatively green their home and daily lives. Committed to encouraging the knowledge and use of green products and practices by making it convenient, easy, informative and fun, Green in BKLYN offers eco-friendly solutions for everyday living. PONCHO PROJECT  Founders Nadja Frank and Caryne Hayes have developed a playful outerwear line inspired by the desire for simple, elegantly designed pieces created with minimal impact to our fragile planet. Each piece is produced with rescued or repurposed textiles. Poncho Project's fashion favors quality and longevity over quantity and ephemeral trends. Nadja and Caryne hope their projects inspire conversations and collaborations around conscious consumption, traceable materials, and textile waste. ECODEO  Founder Liz Rubin ties all these eco-efforts together by focusing her video firm exclusively on supporting eco-friendly activities. She runs this successful B Corp eco video firm that connects audiences with climate solutions, eco-innovation, and a sustainable future. Liz's team produces videos about climate solutions, social impact, eco-innovation, full-spectrum sustainability, conservation, and environmental, racial, social, and food justice solutions. Ecodeo's work helps to lower emissions and builds healthy, resilient, and regenerative communities. Please visit WEALF's website to see the many women in our program with a variety of businesses and backgrounds. WEALF is proving that age, zip code, and ethnicity are not barriers to gaining support necessary to grow a business. Loans are granted without collateral or a guarantor, a prerequisite for traditional loan programs. We emphasize the importance of supporting women and building our collective voice and vibrant community.  Copyright © 2024 Women's Enterprise Action Loan Fund (WEALF), All rights reserved. jkjk Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.