NEW Economics for Women — C-GEM Economic Mobility Initiative

The Challenge

Hundreds of women micro-entrepreneurs across Los Angeles County were locked out of traditional business systems. Operating informally, struggling to access capital, and navigating complex licensing and grant processes with little support. NEW needed more than outreach. They needed an end-to-end system that communities could trust.

The Environment

This work unfolded across real community spaces — South LA, Boyle Heights, East LA, Southeast Cities, Pico-Union, and the San Fernando Valley. With participants balancing work, caregiving, language barriers, and deep skepticism of formal institutions. Success depended on trust, cultural fluency, and presence.

The Victory

The outcomes were not just strong, they were transformative.

Cohort 1 Results:

  • 294 recruited → 229 enrolled

  • 223 completed full training series

  • 130 completed grant applications

  • 111 women secured grant funding

Cohort 2 Results:

  • 37 of 40 participants completed the program (92% completion)

  • 29 of 37 approved for grants by September 2024

Long-term impact:

  • Built a scalable Promotora model now owned by the client

  • Strengthened NEW’s organizational systems, documentation, and evaluation capacity

  • Positioned the client as a regional and statewide leader in economic mobility innovation

The Goal

Design and deliver a scalable, community-rooted economic mobility model capable of reaching women traditionally excluded from business infrastructure, guiding participants from outreach through training, formalization, and funding, producing measurable outcomes funders could trust, and creating a framework that could be replicated beyond a single cohort or region.

The Execution

Del Sol Group didn’t just support the program, we built the infrastructure behind it. We designed the program model, led outreach and enrollment, managed community-based Promotoras, and developed multilingual tools and evaluation systems. We stayed closely engaged with participants through challenges to ensure no one was left behind, while also identifying gaps and strengthening the program for greater long-term impact.