New Economics for Women (NEW), a proud honoree for Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2022 Nonprofit of the Year Award, is a California-based nonprofit organization founded in 1985 and the first Latina-operated nonprofit community economic development organization in the United States. Its mission is to spark economic mobility for women, particularly for Latinas and their families, through wealth creation, housing, education, entrepreneurship, and advocacy for economic justice.
For over 37 years, NEW has made impact in the underserved communities of Greater Los Angeles. When NEW empowers women who are at the center of family to build and protect generational wealth, it affects change in its communities. NEW ends generational cycles of poverty by offering social and economic solutions through its unique multi-generational Whole Family Transformation model.
During this unprecedented moment in our global history, NEW continues to show exceptional leadership in providing solutions to some of the most intractable social and economic challenges that women and communities of color face.
NEW provides affordable housing with a multitude of programs and support services designed to address barriers to economic stability. NEW’s investment in people, places, and policy has resulted in over a quarter of a billion dollars in public and private investment throughout the City of Los Angeles. NEW has produced over 1,600 affordable multifamily apartments and 110 affordable single-family homes. NEW has also created more than 100,000 square feet of commercial, community, health and public school space, including two high-performing elementary schools.
NEW’s comprehensive range of programs work to provide economic mobility services to address the systemic barriers that its clients face. These programs include two FamilySource Centers for low-income families to access wrap-around services and public benefits. The FamilySource Centers are bolstered by NEW’s Homeless Prevention Programs, including Solid Ground and Kids First. Solid Ground is a pilot project in collaboration with Los Angeles County that has led the creation of 16 other sites dedicated to homeless prevention. In partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District and the City of Los Angeles, Kids First is an innovative program addressing the academic and housing needs of unhoused children.
To tackle economic disadvantages and disparities overwhelmingly experienced by women and BIPOC small business owners, NEW’s NEW Community Investments (NCI) provides capital access options like Impresario, the first crowdfunding platform to offer capital solutions with no cost training for underserved women, BIPOC, and veteran-owned small businesses.
Despite this global pandemic, NEW’s mission continued to drive its work, and the organization made its most significant economic impact to date producing and protecting more than $78 million in direct services and assets. During this time, NEW became the first line of defense to the underserved communities, deploying over $18 million in assistance to nearly 15,000 households, distributing 267,683 meals, and giving direct cash transfers through the Angeleno Fund. NEW also served over 2,800 entrepreneurs with business development services and access to capital helping to maintain wage equity and self-sufficiency while saving 2,196 jobs, launching 16 new businesses, creating 872 jobs, and providing $30 million dollars in capital to majority women owned and BIPOC entrepreneurs.
“NEW reached new milestones for women and families despite the extraordinary recent difficulties. I am honored to work with a team of exceptional professionals who are making a real impact in the lives of many women and their families and proud that our work is recognized by the 2022 Nonprofit of the Year Award,” said Maggie Cervantes, executive director for New Economics for Women.
NEW’s vision is to empower generations of women and their families to thrive.
Learn more at neweconomicsforwomen.org.
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