ACCESS Community Capital Fund

It’s National Volunteer Week! As a non-profit organization with so many incredible volunteers, every National Volunteer Week is an exciting opportunity to tell their stories. Over the next week, we will be featuring five of our volunteers, delving into their roles and why they chose to volunteer their time with ACCESS. Today, we are excited to feature Leonard Dalipi.

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With a dynamic career in business consulting, Leonard had heard about ACCESS here and there. Aligning with our mission already, plus hearing great things about the volunteer experience at ACCESS through a couple of his coworkers who were already volunteers, Leonard decided he could find some time to volunteer himself.

“I am passionate about entrepreneurship, and I like to help entrepreneurs,” Leonard said. “ACCESS supports entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, so it has a great mission and vision, and what it does is just remarkable.”

Leonard has been an exceptional volunteer, facilitating the business ideation sessions for our accelerator programs, and our Clients often refer to those early sessions as some of their favourites.

“I enjoy getting to know the entrepreneurs and their stories of why they are passionate about starting their businesses,” Leonard said. “Also, having the opportunity to share my knowledge, I feel like I’m more of a coach providing some tools and materials so the entrepreneurs can use them. So that process of sharing the knowledge and being present with them is up there with things that I really enjoyed.”

Visit www.accessccf.com to learn more about how you can get involved with ACCESS!

💐 What is your favourite thing about March?

For us, it's the fact that around the globe, countries are celebrating Women's History Month. Although technically in Canada Women's History Month is celebrated in October, we thought: a month so nice, we'll happily celebrate it twice 😉.

To celebrate the month of the woman, we reached out to Nadine Spencer – a businesswoman, activist, and philanthropist, for her insights on the importance of female representation in male-dominated industries. Spencer is a Jamaican-born Canadian and the founder and CEO of BrandEQ Group, as well as the founder of the Boss Women Entrepreneurship Training Program.

"Female representation in male-dominated industries isn't just about breaking barriers; it's about reshaping perspectives and fostering inclusivity," Spencer wrote in an email to ACCESS. "As someone who embarked on my entrepreneurial journey at the age of 12, I've witnessed firsthand the transformative power of women stepping into leadership roles."

Spencer has also witnessed the impact of seeing other women succeed through her program 'Boss Women.'

"When women bring their unique insights, creativity, and resilience to the table, they not only enrich the business landscape but also inspire others to pursue their dreams without limitations," Spencer wrote. "Embracing diversity isn't just a moral imperative; it's a strategic advantage that fuels innovation and drives sustainable growth in our communities."

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In the last two years, 85 per cent of our Clients who participated in our various programs were women, and 43 per cent of our entire clientbase are women from all over the world who now call Canada their home.

These women bring new perspectives, ideas, skills, and experiences to Canada's entrepreneurial landscape, and often, the only thing holding them back is limited access to funding. Through our Small Business Loan Program, we say YES to women who have exhausted all their options seeking financing from traditional lenders – whether it be due to poor credit or a lack of credit. Additionally, our Accelerator programs get women to YES by shaping and nurturing their ideas and making their dreams of owning a business a reality.

How can you support the women of ACCESS this month? Find out 3 actionable ways at the link: https://lnkd.in/eduf3BWZ