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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - October 16, 2007
Kehinde Powell Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
October 16, 2007

Burke, Virginia Resident Wins Cash Award To Fund Computer Literacy Program For Underskilled Women In The DC-Area


(New York, NY, October 16, 2007) Burke, Virginia resident Kehinde Powell, 29, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of creating a better tomorrow for her community. Kehinde was named this week’s winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, a weekly $5,000 cash award program from Avon Products, Inc. to support individuals in their work to empower women. Kehinde will apply her award towards a computer literacy training program for under- and unemployed women in her community, enhancing their work-readiness skills and improving their odds of securing meaningful employment.

For the past five years Kehinde has worked with organizations assisting unemployed or underemployed women, including Operation Hope and the Institute for Enterprise Development (IED), both committed to helping women re-enter the workforce or start their own businesses. Many of the women Kehinde aids through IED arrive via other assistance programs, including those supporting women post-incarceration, or victims of domestic violence. Others are completing court-mandated employment courses in an effort to regain custody of their children. Through her work Kehinde noted a serious need for programming focused on computer skills training; many women in her DC-area community receive government assistance for housing and food items, but there is a shortfall in support programs assisting with employment skills and training to help the women secure jobs and thus rise out of poverty and reliance on subsidies.

Inadequate computer training in the area’s public school systems has left many women at a disadvantage within the workforce, lacking the necessary competitive edge to secure jobs that would allow them to sufficiently support themselves and their families. Without proficiency in even the basic programs widely used in most offices, such as Microsoft Word, Excel and even internet navigation, these women find themselves out-skilled by non-DC residents or better educated women, and trapped in low-income positions, relying on government assistance or possibly unemployed.

By offering computer literacy training, Kehinde enhances the women’s abilities beyond basic survival skills to increase their employment opportunities for long-term livelihood. “I see a lot of opportunity for women to better or start their careers,” said Kehinde. “I would love to see more viable businesses started by women out there.” The successes already achieved through her work have inspired Kehinde to expand the computer skills training to offer gender-specific classes that address the unique needs of women in her community. The program will cover basics of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and the Internet, and will also explore other computer-related skills such as online marketing, writing and clerical work. Thanks to her Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award, Kehinde will be able to expand the program for the summer and offer up to six four-course sessions for women between the ages of 18 and 50.

Kehinde’s Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award money will be allocated specifically to subsidize instructor stipends, student incentives and bus tokens, and light refreshments for the children of attending women whose budgets and situations don’t allow for babysitting. IED will continue to provide the space for the program, and the award money will cover all other costs of implementation. Kehinde aims to reach upwards of 60 women through her summer sessions, empowering them with the necessary skills to take charge of their earning potential and ultimately improve the overall quality of their lives and the lives of their families.

Kehinde’s winning application to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund fell under the category of “Community Service,” one of three areas the Fund supports. Her proposal met the criteria to clearly present unique and achievable objectives to empower women or girls and ultimately improve society. It was selected from a pool of strong contenders by an expert panel of judges, including Suze Orman, America’s most recognized expert on personal finance. “This proposal targets a worthy ‘middle’ age group – women who often fall through the cracks of education and skills-based programs,” noted UNIFEM Public Affairs Specialist Joan Libby-Hawk, the most recent appointee to the Fund’s judging panel. “Becoming basic computer literate is essential to getting work in almost any setting. This adjunct program in a well-established community setting will help.”

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