I have been speechless quite a bit over the last few weeks. And for anyone who knows me well, you know that that is very rare. I am just so humbled and honored by the support that has been extended to me as I launch Prosperity Catalyst in its first few months.

Just 3 months into the life of Prosperity Catalyst, we have been honored to receive two grants to launch our work in Haiti. We are truly humbled that our model of economic empowerment for women resonated so deeply with these two funders.

Days before Thanksgiving I received word that our very first grant was awarded by UMCOR. We have so much to be thankful for in regards to our relationship with UMCOR. UMCOR is devoted to relief efforts around the world and has been deeply committed to our shared vision of empowering women through fair trade efforts – they have been a wonderful ally to Prosperity Candle, our sister organization, in purchasing and promoting candle sales and sharing our story. Now UMCOR’s $50,000 grant will help fund our pilot project in early 2013.

And two days after Thanksgiving,I received an email from the State Department’s Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer, letting me know that Prosperity Catalyst had been awarded an inaugural WEAmericas grant for $60,000. The WEAmericas small grant initiative (which stands for Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Americas) is a new program that has been launched to support innovative approaches to fostering job creation and entrepreneurship for women throughout the Americas. We are honored to be one of the inaugural grantees.

We have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Ambassador Melanne Verveer noted when she met me in late November 2012 that the Prosperity model of empowering women through business opportunities with sustainable links to global markets is exactly the type of model they were looking to support. She said “It is an honor to be funding Prosperity Catalyst’s work in Haiti. Now we have to sell those candles!”

We are enormously honored to have this early support from such visionary leaders in our field. Thank you to UMCOR and the Office of Global Women’s Issues at the State Department for believing so deeply in our work. We will make you proud.

~ Siiri, Executive Director