Katherine Cartagena came to SJU to share with us her story. Part-time Graduate student, she is from Bolivia. Working and living in Philadelphia. Her mother and family owns a women's shelter partnering with a local priest/ministry out of their own home. This shelter is called ‘Shelter Emilia Wojtyla’. Katherine’s mother uses the resources she can find to empower the women in the shelter to learn how to read and write, to grow confidence in themselves, and to learn to improve their lives as well as the lives of their children.

Katherine’s vision is to launch a global business of the shelter’s handcrafted accessories. The women, taught by Katherine’s mother, learn how to knit and crochet scarfs, mittens, shawls, and little other accessories as part of the shelter’s growing, therapeutic and communal experience. Katherine is in hope to one day import these products and sell them in the greater Philadelphia area. Each sold product is not only handcrafted with the love of the women shelter but always tied with the story of one of women and her journey. All profits go back to support the shelter and provide them with the necessary resources and materials to continue to confront the inequality in Bolivia.

We want to partner with her and the students at Immaculata University to grow her business and her mother's non-profit. So we held a discussion with Immaculata students and SJU students at the Haub Business school.