Levi Strauss Foundation Grantee Helps Migrant Women Start Businesses in Germany
Latifa Fachat, a 25-year-old Moroccan immigrant and mother of two, lives in Offenbach, Germany, just 30 km from Levi Strauss Germany's Heusenstamm offices. Offenbach has an unemployment rate of about 14 percent and the highest percentage of ethnic minorities in the country. Latifa runs a travel agency specializing in holidays to Morocco and Mecca that she started in 2005 with the help of local micro-business development agency and Levi Strauss Foundation grantee, KIZ
"This project provided me with a great opportunity that everyone should have in starting their own business," said Latifa. "The people from KIZ helped me plan each step in developing my business idea, which proved vital to its success. The people from KIZ encouraged me where others had only slowed my development. I would have never made it on my own."
The rate of unemployment in Germany is the highest since the 1930s. Unemployment among women and youth is higher than average, and migrants and ethnic minorities are often completely excluded from the labor market. While the German government had recently introduced reforms in the labor market, mainstream employment services, training programs and new micro-business development initiatives were not reaching migrant women.
With a $75,000 grant from the Levi Strauss Foundation, KIZ launched Start-Offenbach in 2005. KIZ developed the project in partnership with the German Microfinance Institute and the city of Offenbach with the goal being to help migrant women start their own businesses. To recruit women for the project, Start-Offenbach developed a promotional campaign with the support of employee volunteers from Levi Strauss Germany. The campaign featured Latifa as one of three successful female migrant entrepreneurs from the city. It sought to create a positive image for the migrant community and to encourage other women to follow their examples.
"Working with the Levi Strauss Foundation and Levi Strauss & Co. on this project was an exciting experience," said Markus Weidner, Executive Director of KIZ. "This is the first time we've been able to focus on promoting a project exclusively for female migrants in Germany."
Start-Offenbach participants go through KIZ's micro-business development program, which includes management training, business planning, micro-lending and technical support. The organization hopes to turn these aspiring entrepreneurs into successful business women, providing jobs for themselves and the wider community
Claudia Eckstein, Jr. Advertising & Promotion Manager at Levi Strauss Germany participated in the Start-Offenbach project as a volunteer, helping to develop the marketing and outreach campaign. "I really enjoyed volunteering on the project because I could use my professional skills in a different way. It feels good to be able to use my skills to encourage new female entrepreneurs and to raise the visibility of successful women from the migrant community."
Because no comparable project exists elsewhere in Germany, KIZ is sharing learnings from Start-Offenbach with other cities. "We learned a lot about the target group and their specific needs throughout this project," Marcus said. "Now, there is high interest among our partners to extend this idea to other regions in Germany."
To learn more about KIZ, visit http://www.start-offenbach.de