Ladies Who Launch Members Receive Grants From Jones New York

CLEVELAND, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Four members of Ladies Who Launch, the first new media company to provide resources and connections for women entrepreneurs, will each receive $10,000 from the Jones New York Empowerment Fund.

The Jones New York Empowerment Fund was created in 2010 to help women reach their personal, professional and community goals through monetary grants that can impact change. Jones New York partnered with Ladies Who Launch and Dress For Success to help facilitate the grant application process.

"When I started Ladies Who Launch, it was motivation, passion, and the support of others that helped me overcome obstacles and become successful," said Victoria Colligan, founder of Ladies Who Launch.  "We are so proud of the Ladies Who Launch grant recipients. With the support of Jones New York, they will be able to take their businesses to the next level and create success for themselves."

As the largest global forum for like-minded entrepreneurial women, Ladies Who Launch provides resources for online marketing, public relations and branding, health insurance, web design, product development to help woman launch their businesses and their lives.

Grant recipients will use the funds to fund their entrepreneurial visions that include natural aromatherapy air fresheners; professional coaching for niche markets; a natural product company; and an online educational network. Grant winners include:

• Deborah Olivo Franqui of Randolph, NJ, is the founder/owner of Aromatic Therapy LLC/VidaAire Lemongrass Sanitizer. VidaAire is a natural air freshener/odor neutralizer and household sanitizer that is produced using pure, natural, organic essential oils. Deborah plans to use the grant to expand her product line and establish a web-based marketing presence.
• Caroline Ceniza-Levine of New York, NY is co-founder and partner of SixFigureStart®, a career coaching firm. SixFigureStart® was founded to coach Generation Y students and recent graduates in beginning careers, but over time, clients have been older, experienced job candidates looking to make a career change. Caroline will use the grant to further develop coaching offering for the mid- to late-career professional and will also write a job search textbook.
• Allison Jagtiani of New York, NY is founder and chief epicurean officer of Goji Gourmet LLC, a natural, preservative-free snack company for kids using Goji berries, a "superfood." Allison decided to start Goji Gourmet after volunteering at a local school to create a salad bar and other fresh, healthy meal options. Last summer, Allison created 100-calorie snack packs. She will use the $10,000 to streamline the production and packaging for the snack packs.
• Dimitry Kirwan of Norwalk, CT is the founder of Beyond Teaching, an online service that connects families looking for responsible babysitters and tutors with teachers who are looking for weekend, afterschool and summer vacation work. She plans to use the grant to launch an online network where teachers create profiles as potential babysitters, and parents can connect with then on the website.

In addition to the $10,000 grants awarded, the Jones New York Empowerment Fund is also presenting $500 grants to two other Ladies Who Launch members from Southwest Connecticut: Meredith Gray, a breast cancer mentor, speaker and documentary filmmaker, and Emma Kirwan, co-founder of Peaks Over Poverty, an organization that promotes adventure travel and ecotourism. Both women live in Norwalk, CT.

The Ladies Who Launch grant winners were formally announced at the Jones New York Power Lunch on September 23 in New York City.

ABOUT LADIES WHO LAUNCH

Ladies Who Launch (www.ladieswholaunch.com) makes entrepreneurship accessible to any woman with a project, dream or aspiration to start her own business and be successful. With the largest worldwide online and in-person community of more than 100,000 female entrepreneurs, Ladies Who Launch offers resources, success stories, assessments, forums and classifieds – all designed to help women entrepreneurs at all levels to be successful. The company has franchised Local Communities in cities across North America.

SOURCE Ladies Who Launch