Yozmot Atid exists for a simple reason: we want to share the spirit of entrepreneurship with some of the lowest income segmen ... ts of the Israeli economy—women from underprivileged backgrounds who aspire for something more for themselves and their families. What we do is pretty straightforward: we help them launch, run and grow small businesses of their own, from A to Z. The women we serve are underemployed women from Israel’s low-income periphery. Whatever their background—Jewish or Arab, secular or ultra-Orthodox, new immigrant or veteran Israeli—all of them dream of economic independence and a better life for themselves and their families. That said, most would have little to no chance of opening a business on their own. Few have any idea how to find and market to customers. Most lack business experience of any kind and are understandably afraid of taking the leap alone. Our program is both fully subsidized and highly professional, with more than 400 (and growing!) business professionals from around the country working with us as volunteer mentors: Whatever her business idea, wherever she lives, chances are we have an experienced professional volunteer nearby who can help her take the next steps. Our working relationships with leading banks and micro-finance platforms in Israel ensure that the women we assist are able to finance costly start-up expenses. So, whether they aspire to be cosmeticians, computer technicians, wedding photographers, event organizers or accountants (and literally everything in between), we work to help each one of them turn their ambition and core competencies into a business plan—and from there into a viable, robust business. Since we started in 2015, we have helped over 3,500 small businesses get started across Israel—72% of which are still viable and growing. As far as we are concerned, they are Israel’s real start-up nation: a substantial segment of the population who could be transformed into a significant lever for the economy. read more