A fusion of academic, corporate, government, and not-for-profit partners

Bpeace develops relationships and strategic partnerships with world-class institutions and organizations to deliver the knowledge and skills to stimulate entrepreneurship and expand small and medium-sized businesses in post-conflict countries. 

 

Academic partners.  During the first six months of the three years that a woman entrepreneur is part of the Bpeace program, she can avail herself of classroom training in finance, marketing, human resources and customer service, specialized technical training in her industry, or resources and tools from colleges with a particular interest in Bpeace’s work.  These academic partners include:  Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, Dubai Women's College, Fashion Institute of Technology, and Project Artemis at Thunderbird.

 

Corporate partners engage with Bpeace’s work in many ways. 
Companies like Regis Corporation, Pantone, Inc. and Video Professor provide technical training and tools for the women entrepreneurs we assist. 

 

Fina Bank provides small-business loans to qualified Bpeace Rwandan entrepreneurs.

 

Haymarket Media, Lucid Design, Mucca Design, Sean Mellyn, Oberon Creative, Oyster Studio, and Pause for Thought design logo and brand materials for the businesses of the Afghan and Rwandan women entrepreneurs.  

 

Cooper & Dunham LLP, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP and PR Newswire provide pro-bono services to help Bpeace keep its operating costs low. 

 

Coach, Hachette, IBM, Liz Claiborne, PR Newswire, Thomson Reuters and United Business Media provide financial support to Bpeace to recognize the role their employees play as Bpeace volunteers. 

 

More than 40 companies and organizations from Maine to North Carolina hosted Afghan women entrepreneurs during October 2008’s BART (Bpeace Apprentice Road Trip).  They include:  Abenaki Apiary, Action Envelope, Air Products Women's Group, Alliance Energy, Bernhardt, Bob Edwards Production Team (on XMPR, Channel 130), Cedar Crest College, DFB Sales, DucDuc, Gladstone’s Under the Sun (Maine Munchies), Grandy Oats, Gulf Oil, Heidelberg, High School of Graphic Communication Arts, LeadDog Marketing, GroupM ESP, Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Modell's, Mutual Oil, New York Metropolitan Women's Soccer League, Niketown, Paragon Sports , Pemberton's Gourmet Foods, Power of Women, Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF), Graytor Printing, Printing Industry Alliance, Radio Advertising Bureau, Ricoh, Stonewall Kitchen, Swan's Honey, WAEB 790, Wilbur’s of Maine Chocolate Confections, Women's Business Development Center Connecticut, WOR710 Radio, WCBS Newsradio, Workshop in Business Opportunities (WIBO), World Harbors, XM Advertising Sales Team, XM Satellite Radio.

 

Corporations are the key to the success of Bpeace’s annual fundraising event each May, which traditionally generates 20% of the income needed to fund the Bpeace program.  Many corporations provide the critical support necessary including purchasing corporate tables and providing auction items.  The 2009 companies that supported Bpeace’s DanceGiving include: Alexander White Floral Design, Astor Center, Astaire Awards, Blissworld, Broadway Books, Bryant Park Grill, Camera 1, Events by Kristin Nicole, Liz Brown Photography, Lynn Burns, LB Inspired LLC, City Winery, Drew Doggett Photography, Equinox, Kodak, Late Show with David Letterman, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, QuelObjet.com, Satya Jewelry Collection, Gibbs Smith Publisher, Southwest Airlines, Standard Hotel, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, vitaminenergy, The Lodge at Woodloch, Westin Hotels, White Plains High School, and Zaanha.
  
Governments have a role, too.  Bpeace is, of course, a non-governmental, apolitical organization. That said, the financial support and advocacy of certain government departments and ministries have played an important role in Bpeace’s fast-track success. The Office of Citizen Exchanges of the U.S. Department of State has provided us with several grants for our Afghan programs. The Afghanistan Ministry of Commerce helped us recruit our first group of Afghan entrepreneurs. The Embassy of Afghanistan in Washington, DC opens doors for us. The Rwandan Ministry of Gender is providing advocacy for the beauty vocational school we are helping to launch.

 

“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit. “  ~ Harry S. Truman

 

Take action.  Partner with us.

 

 

Regis Corporation explains why and how they partnered with Bpeace to create a pilot beauty salon training program in Rwanda. 

 

The Office of Citizen Exchanges of the US Department of State has provided Bpeace with three grants over the past six years to bring Afghan businesswomen to the U.S. to improve their skills and expand their businesses.