Forest Grove nonprofit grabs $75,000 grant for startups

Adelante Mujeres gains wider attention as it expands business programs to aid the Latino community

By Nancy Townsley

The Forest Grove News-Times, Feb 10, 2010, Updated Feb 10, 2010

Chase Allgood / News-Times

An Adelante Mujeres enterprise program has helped boost Concepcion Giron’s Hillsboro carpet cleaning business.

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Adelante Mujeres is making a name for itself in the Northwest.

After securing a $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in late 2009, the Forest Grove nonprofit has caught the ear of philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

Last month the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, named for the Microsoft Inc. co-founder and Trail Blazers owner, awarded Adelante Mujeres $75,000 to expand its fledgling microenterprise program.

Adelante Mujeres, which started in 2005, boosts local Latino families by providing them with parenting, educational and business skills classes. Its sustainable farming and microenterprise programs followed in 2008.

The group’s most recent endeavor, a small business mentorship project called Adelante Empresas, will get the lion’s share of the Allen foundation grant money.

“What made this program compelling is that it has a deep significance for people living in a region of the state that’s been hard-hit by the recession,” said Bill Vesneski, who evaluates grant applications for the foundation out of his Seattle office.

“We think the microenterprise approach is a great approach because it builds on peoples’ strengths.”

Ali Brown, who coordinates the one-year-old program, couldn’t be happier.

“This is great news, because it’s really going to allow us to expand our program,” said Brown. “Now that we’ve gotten things off the ground, we can start working our strategic plan.”

Brown said the Adelante Empresas vision includes seeking out and mentoring Latino entrepreneurs whose business plans show ingenuity and promise.

“What we try to do is help our entrepreneurs break through the barriers they might experience,” said Brown. “It’s very rewarding for them and for us.”

Besides Adelante Empresas, the following Oregon nonprofits earned a share of the $4.6 million in Allen Family Foundation grants disbursed last month:

•Umpqua Community Development Corp., Roseburg, $50,000;

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