As advocates for low-income women in the early 1990’s, Mimi Van Sickle, Sheilah Rogers, Debi Clifford and Forescee Hogan-Rowles quickly realized that public policy was inadequate for the needs of their clients.
What was born as an advocacy organization to change the rules for the benefit of their clients, quickly grew into a voice for all Californians seeking to change their lives and communities through entrepreneurship.
Timeline
- 2007 – Claudia Viek named CEO of CAMEO and begins to establish CAMEO as a leader in Micro Enterprise development in California and throughout the nation.
- 1997 – As CEO, Catherine Marshall establishes CAMEO as a premier training and capacity building program, expands scope of its advocacy and hires staff.
- 1994 – Laurie Pantell named CAMEO’s first CEO and holds its first advocacy conferences in Sacramento. Membership grows to more than 100 and CAMEO sponsors first legislation.
- 1993 – Mimi Van Sickle, Sheilah Rogers, Debi Clifford and Forescee Hogan-Rowles obtain a grant from the James Irvine Foundation to assist low-income women to become self-sufficient, small business owners. CAMEO is born.
