Cameo Network Services

California Association for Micro Enterprise OpportunityCAMEO’s history, like that of many entrepreneurial endeavors, can be traced back to long planning sessions at the kitchen table. Its four founders usually met in Santa Rosa at the home of one of their parents, who put them up, fed them, and let them hold their day-long meetings in the kitchen. At our 2018 Board Retreat, facilitator Judy Hawkins drew this time line of CAMEO’s History. Idea In 1993, a grant from the James Irvine Foundation brought together four pioneering leaders from around the state: Mimi (Lufkin) Van Sickle of Women’s Economic Growth (Weed) Sheilah Rogers of West Company (Ukiah) Debi Clifford of Women’s Initiative for Self Employment (San Francisco) Forescee Hogan-Rowles of the Coalition for Women’s Economic Development (Los Angeles) Each founder was determined to create and enrich business development programs serving low-income women entrepreneurs. They quickly realized that in order to serve this population, there was a pressing need for advocacy work. “Several regulations affected the ability of low-income women (and particularly welfare clients) to even imagine starting their own business,” remarks Rogers, “and these needed to be addressed.” Welfare clients, for example, were not allowed to hold assets, presenting a major barrier to business ownership. “We realized that if we were to move forward, we needed to start some kind of trade association that would let us do it.”