Together We Bake hosts 6th annual Empowerment Breakfast

Open Horizon is honored to be a Presenting Sponsor for the 6th Annual Together We Bake Empowerment Breakfast, held this morning, May 18th, 2023. The Empowerment Breakfast is TWB’s largest fundraiser of the year and a powerful celebration of the perseverance and strength of their Alumni community.

This year’s Breakfast featured local leaders and recognized extraordinary alumni with the “Together We Rise” and “Together We Empower” awards. Open Horizon’s own Executive Director, D’Lynn Jacobs, offered opening remarks, reflecting on the ways in which the organization fosters authentic sisterhood and empowers each participant to shine their light. D’Lynn also shared the “Conversation Starter” for the event: Think of a person who inspires you, and share what they do/did to inspire you??

The Empowerment Breakfast helps raise awareness about the issues facing women who are experiencing barriers to employment, including homelessness, returning from the criminal justice system, recovery from behavioral and mental health issues, addiction, immigration to the country, domestic violence, and abuse and/or trauma. Attendees of the Breakfast heard powerful reflections from the women TWB serves, and who are overcoming incredible challenges in their lives.

Together We Bake’s mission is to provide a comprehensive workforce training and personal development program to help underserved women — many formerly imprisoned for nonviolent offenses — gain self-confidence, transferable work skills, and hands-on experience, allowing them to find sustainable employment. The program centers on a small baking business, through which women actively learn about and take part in food production, food safety education, and business administration. TWB also teaches empowerment and life-skills classes to help women develop self-confidence, healthy coping strategies, and a strong support network. Each woman graduates from the program job-ready, empowered, and with a nationally recognized ServSafe certificate, resulting in preferential hiring and higher wages.

We are proud to support Together We Bake and the vital work they do in the DMV area. To learn more about the program or to contribute to the fundraising goal of $150,000 today, please visit https://togetherwebake.org/