Investing In Women founder to offer $500 “stimulus package” to encourage women to start or grow businesses that will help the economy or improve lives.

SAN DIEGO, CA – Tuesday, June 30 2009 – Founder of Investing In Women (http://www.iiWomen.com) Leah Oviedo, a website to connect female entrepreneurs to helpful resources, is offering a $500 micro-grant to women seeking to open or expand their business.
The grant application includes questions like “How will the grant encourage your business growth?” and “How will your business improve the economy or the lives of others?” The answers the applicants give will affect Investing In Women's award decision. Applications are available to every adult woman with a valid business license in the United States.
“This is our first ever grant,” says Oviedo. “We plan on eventually having several per year, including some that aren't gender-specific.”
Oviedo started iiWomen.com in early 2009 to give support back to the community of female entrepreneurs, after producing a print directory of woman-owned businesses in 2008. iiWomen.com is composed of resource listings, like the grant, and articles written by other entrepreneurs. “About half of the content is submitted by entrepreneurs,” says Oviedo.
In addition to Investing In Women, she runs a successful retail business, Mercado del Mundo (translated from Spanish as “Market of the World”), selling the clothing, jewelry and art from a variety of artists. Visit http://www.iiWomen.com for complete contest details.

# # #