Planned activities for starting up the organization are to devote time and resources to activities as follows:

Activity 1 - Seed Grants/Financial Assistance

Activity Purpose -WILI will provide financial support to economic development projects that are in their start up phase.

For example, a first project of WILI will be to support the economic development efforts of indigenous women with disabilities in Oaxaca, Mexico who would like to develop a restaurant in the city of Oaxaca that would employ women with disabilities in all areas of restaurant management, include administrative activities, food preparation, food serving, and cleanup. This restaurant would be a project of an organization which currently exists in Oaxaca, The Association of Women with Disabilities in Oaxaca (AMUDO). WILI's support of the AMUDO restaurant would be to provide funding to purchase kitchen equipment.

Activity 2 - Direct Education/Training/Capacity-Building Workshops

Activity Purpose - WILI will provide for the education/training/capacity-building needed in order to insure the success of the economic development projects WILI has chosen to support.

For example, WILI's support of the AMUDO restaurant project mentioned in Activity 1 above would also include training in restaurant management and appropriate work habits. The training would be provided on an individual-basis at a restaurant in operation in Tucson, Arizona. Training would continue in Oaxaca on a periodic basis through capacity-building workshops (group training) prior to the opening of the restaurant and during its first year of operation. All training would be provided by volunteers willing to assist the women with disabilities.

Activity 3 - Participatory Research Activities

Activity Purpose - To engage in research activities that document the needs, or further explore the needs, of the women involved in a given project; the women would participate in the research not only as subjects, but also as managers of the research effort.

For example, while no specific research actives are planned for WILI at this time, two sources of financial support of WILI activities are anticipated to be non-profit foundations or organizations and government grants or contracts. Monies from these two sources of financial support will be solicited by WILI to pay for research expenses such as staff and materials.

Activity 4 - Fundraising

Activity Purpose - As a first step, the organization will develop a contact list for soliciting support from the general public. All contributions to WILI are tax-deductible.

The WILI Advisory Board will make recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding specific funds to solicit; for example, grants from other exempt organizations. The Board of Directors will make all decisions regarding specific funds to solicit. Money to operate WILI will also come from both private contributions and responses to specific fund-raising efforts.

• Private contributions
• Non-profit foundations or organizations
• Government grants or contracts

• Mailings/personal contact with individual donors interested in women's issues
• Proposals to non-profit foundations interested in education and economic-opportunity
• Solicitation of appropriate government grants and/or contracts
• Special events for fundraising

	Purpose
	The purpose of the Women's International Leadership Institute (WILI) is to promote women's leadership potential, employment and economic self-sufficiency through educational programming, skill-building and charitable acts. WILI is a tax-exempt organization [501(c)(3)] as defined by section 501 (a) of the Internal Revenue Code. WILI was organized in response to the problem of women in poverty who do not have the education or leadership skills to improve their economic situation– women whose day-to-day activities are so focused on survival at minimal subsistence levels that they can not move forward in terms of increasing their own education (and thus improving their economic situation) or skill-level in terms of economic self-sufficiency. These women live all over the world thus WILI chooses to be international in focus. Women who benefit from WILI's activities may live anywhere in the world– from Southern Appalachia in the United States to southern Mexico.