WEL Institute
The Women Empowerment and Leadership (WEL) Institute programs serve as a learning collaboration
led by RAMWI. Program components include facilitated discussions that foster a safe environment for peer sharing; engaging with community partners from academic institutions, public and private sectors; and engage in interactive convenings that allow the refugee and migrant women an opportunity to build their skills, reflect, share ideas, and to advocate for other refugee women resettling in the Tampa Bay area. Each program is designed to have a co-lead from a local academic institution or community organization to assist with program planning, evaluation, and to engage the women participating. The WEL Institute plans to host the following five programs in 2022:
Advocacy
Advocacy training provides refugee and migrant women with tools to help them better integrate and become actors within their host communities. Explore what leadership means and how women can build on their existing leadership skills for the benefit of their communities.
Workforce Readiness
A key component of economic empowerment is to support workforce readiness to help refugee women prepare for employment. Work offers not only a chance to earn money and make one’s own decisions, but it restores a sense of normalcy to life, and offers a way to make friends and to contribute to the receiving community.
Disaster Preparedness & Resilience
Build awareness, increase knowledge, and self-efficacy at the individual and household levels to plan and prepare for the common hazards that could impact families that have resettled in the Tampa Bay area. Develop a strategy for keeping other refugee families informed about how to prepare for hurricane season.
Introduction to Entrepreneurship
Business training and communications skill-building foster confidence, creativity, and innovation. In this program, we identify and leverage existing strengths and skills the refugee women already have. Through this process, women translate their passions into strategies to financially support themselves and their families.
Health & Wellness
Exploring different approaches to improving overall physical and psychological well- being to include movement, the creative arts, and building support systems within the community. Women will discuss concerns, barriers, and innovative strategies to increase access to care and support health education in the refugee community.
How Can You Help?
Where do you go from here? Sustainability reports are not just about looking back but also looking forward. Financial supports strengthen program design and implementation while compensation and incentives can provide support for refugee women. If you are interested in partnering or sponsoring the WEL Institute, please contact Elizabeth Dunn, Vice President at micaela@ramwi.org.
Here are some ways to help:
Sponsor the WEL Institute ($25,000): Support the WEL Institute by sponsoring all five programs offered throughout the year.
Sponsor a Program ($5,000): Passionate about a particular program or do the goals align with your agency's mission? Sponsor one of our programs
Sponsor interpreter services ($500.00) Give the gift of communication by sponsoring interpreter services in multiple languages for a monthly Wellness Program
Sponsor lunch for the whole class ($280.00) Give the gift of community by sponsoring lunch for all of the women in a class and their instructors.
Sponsor a Refugee Woman ($160): Supporting our local refugee and migrant women to attend will ensure she has a meal, transportation, or other items they may need to ensure their success.
Sponsor an Activity ($35-$500): There are a variety of activities that you can sponsor from a single meal ($10) or printed materials ($200) for a class, cover the transportation costs for a woman attending ($100), or compensating a translator ($500) for a six-week class.
In-Kind Sponsorship: Donate your time, services, or skills to support the WEL Institute and refugee women (i.e., videography, lunch, grant writing, social media, web design, subject matter expertise).
