$175,000 Irvine Grant to Support Group for Women Entrepreneurs

A nonprofit group devoted to women entrepreneurs will expand its Orange County operations with a recently awarded three-year grant of $175,000 from the James Irvine Foundation.

Designed specifically to help women entrepreneurs in Orange County, the grant will beef up programs offered by the California AWED--American Woman’s Economic Development Corp., an organization that has trained more than 4,000 women since forming in Los Angeles County in 1991.

“It’s wonderful. The money will fund business-training programs for low-income and minority women in Orange County,” said Judith Luther-Wilder, executive director for AWED, who added that some women will be given financial aid to participate in the programs.

The group recently opened a satellite office in Costa Mesa and plans to provide business-training courses in cities across Orange County. A yearlong course titled “Managing Your Own Business” will start on Oct. 5.