Wen-Fei Hsu-Blackwell is one of some twenty immigrant women who are well on the path to realizing the American dream. With the help of an enterprising new Bay Area organization, C.E.O. Women, Wen-Fei graduated to a new life last June, overcoming fears and cultural barriers to achieve her long–held goal of operating her own business.

Wen-Fei’s interest in art had led her to study commercial design in Taiwan, and some innovative women professors encouraged her dreams. When she married an American teacher and moved to California, she enthusiastically entered an M.F.A. program at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco.

But she was not ready to fulfill her ambitions. Like so many newly arrived immigrants, Wen-Fei met with barriers on many fronts. She lacked basic information on how to start a business in the U.S., and her search for independent work was unsuccessful. With limited English skills, she could not successfully pursue an academic program. She summarized her initial attempts in this way: "In the first two years I cried a lot, almost every week. Everything was new here. I needed to learn English. I needed to make money. But nobody would help me. I had to do everything myself. It was all so hard. I felt like a baby again.”

C.E.O. Women gave Wen-Fei just the kind of solid, practical training she needed. She enrolled in the Micro-Enterprise Training program, and says that it provided her with fundamental and critical skills, like how to get a business license and market her business. But just as important, C.E.O. Women's classes gave her courage, friendship, and heightened self-esteem: "C.E.O. Women helped my English, taught me all of the steps I need to take to start my business, and how to protect myself. I now have more confidence because I know what I should do. I don't cry anymore. I am doing it. I have my own graphic design company!"

C.E.O Women paired Wen-Fei with an experienced business coach who also helps her with English as a Second Language (ESL). And she does have one other goal: "I want to give back to the people that helped me. Maybe when my business is successful I can be a C.E.O. Women coach and help other immigrant women be successful."