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The Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to empowering women to grow their businesses, pursue greater entrepreneurial ventures, and become more active public policy advocates. Our mission is to empower women economically, socially and politically. The PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS program began in 2007, when a member of the US-Women’s Afghan Council recommended Terry Neese to former first lady Laura Bush as the No. 1 woman who could design and implement a meaningful and successful mentorship program for Afghan women. Since then, our program (including this year’s students) has trained more than 100 women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and Rwanda. This year’s program brings 14 Afghan and 16 Rwandan students to the United States in August. In short, the program provides long-term business education to women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and Rwanda. There are four phases: In-Country Education, Leadership Development, International Women’s Economic Summit and Pay It Forward. The program has proven successful. For example, one of our 2007 graduates, Amir Taj Sirat, has not only expanded her business (added 53 employees) and increased her revenues (by 17%), but she is also running for Parliament in Afghanistan. A big part of our program is the mentorship phase, where our students live and work with an American woman business owner for five days. This allows our students to take the knowledge they have learned and apply it to real-life scenarios. Despite today’s economy, women business owners all over the United States have volunteered for this year’s program. We have a great group of sponsors and support, including former First Lady Laura Bush, both Rwanda’s and Afghanistan’s ambassadors, AT&T, T. Boone Pickens and Office Depot.