Congratulations to Women’s Bean Project:
Proudly Named Our Newest
Giving Back Social Enterprise.
 At No Margin, No Mission™, we are committed to supporting organizations that successfully apply entrepreneurial practices to better achieving their social or environmental mission. As part of that commitment, we select outstanding social enterprises that have succeeded in creating diversified revenue, mission impact, and demonstrated staying power.
Along with this selection, and in keeping with our commitment to Give Back in communities where we live and work, we make a financial contribution to that organization and feature their story prominently on our Web site and in our communications for the month.
Some of the other Giving Back Social Enterprises that we’re proud to have selected in the past were Phoenix-based Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc., New York City-based Housing Works, Detroit-based E-Three Labs, Chicago-based Cleanslate, and Seattle-based AtWork! You can learn more about these organizations by clicking here.
Please take a look below to read about Women’s Bean Project, our newest featured Giving Back Social Enterprise, and learn about the innovative and entrepreneurial work that they’re doing to make a difference in the lives of so many people in Denver.
WOMEN’S BEAN PROJECT: A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE WITH MARGIN AND MISSION
 The Women’s Bean Project is a social enterprise that offers transitional jobs in gourmet food manufacturing designed to provide immediate income, arrange support services to overcome barriers to employment, and teach the job readiness skills needed to get and keep a job. Program participants come from backgrounds of chronic unemployment and poverty, and the program helps them develop the work and interpersonal skills needed to function independently in the workplace and community.
But the Women’s Bean Project does not hire women to make and sell bean products. Instead, they make and sell bean products to hire women.
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| The Women’s Bean Project generates margin to grow its mission by selling its signature gourmet soup mixes, among many other food items. |
Women produce the goods that are sold nationwide as they develop the work and interpersonal skills needed to function independently and effectively in the workplace and community.
The Women’s Bean Project:
Meets basic needs and removes barriers to employment by paying a wage and facilitating support services.
Offers life skills that enhance a woman’s ability to govern her own life.
Arranges services that increase employability such as GED and computer classes.
Provides hands-on training in the fundamental job readiness skills required by entry-level employers.
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| The Women’s Bean Project teaches job readiness skills that are needed for its participants to get and keep a job. |
The Women’s Bean Project was founded by Jossy Eyre in 1989 as a result of her volunteer work at a day shelter for homeless women. Eyre saw that while the shelter kept women safe, it could not help them make lasting changes in their lives. Eyre bought $500 worth of beans and put two homeless women to work – the first step in building the social enterprise they are today. The organization’s training opportunities have expanded dramatically over the years, and its annual operating budget has grown from $6,100 to over $1.5 million today.
Currently, the Women’s Bean Project product offerings have expanded to salsa mixes, spice rubs, coffee beans, and jelly beans in addition to their signature soups and chili, along with gift baskets, baking mixes and much more.
ABOUT NO MARGIN, NO MISSION™
No Margin, No Mission™ is a social enterprise and national consulting practice that helps organizations with a social mission increase revenue, expand impact, and build a lasting future through entrepreneurial thinking and business strategy.
With consulting, training, speaking, and implementation offerings designed for nonprofit and foundation clients, No Margin, No Mission addresses topics such as entrepreneurial leadership, social enterprise, revenue generation, business planning, organizational growth, intellectual property development, strategic partnerships, marketing and brand strategy, and public relations and communications strategy.
No Margin, No Mission’s co-founders, Larry Clark and Michael Oxman, are cutting-edge thinkers, innovative leaders, and entrepreneurs who are passionate about social change. With collective work experience that spans decades in the nonprofit, for-profit, and foundation sectors, their client relationships have included numerous nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, universities, government agencies, and coalitions.
No Margin, No Mission’s approach is customized to meet their client’s needs. With a hands-on, practical, engaging, and interactive working style, their engagements are thought provoking, interesting, productive, and fun. To learn more about No Margin, No Mission, visit www.NoMarginNoMission.org.
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