Workin It (Part 1) 2009
President and CEO, RainbowVision
Joy Silver asked the question: “What will happen to us when we age, or are in need of help, and who will provide those services particularly since some of us have alternative family structures?” She answered by founding RainbowVision Santa Fe, an adult community with condos, rentals and assisted living, now in its third year, where the LGBTQI & A population lives in the majority. With a fitness center, salon, restaurant, cabaret, and an event space, RainbowVision has become “the de facto community center for the Santa Fe LGBTQI+A,” according to Silver, hosting a wide range of ages and sexual identification at its many events. “Living through the AIDS crisis taught us that care through the end of life–medical and mental health challenges – may not necessarily be related to becoming elderly. The benefits that RainbowVision provides to our community are that there is now a place, and options for us that have never existed before.” – KW
The first 18 of 2009’s Red Hot Entrepreneurs!
Kimberlee Williams
Principal / Marketing Director, Femworks, LLC
Kimberlee Williams felt like she’d hit the glass ceiling in the corporate world. She says, “So what does one do when you have more marketing intuition than your boss? I decided to start my own firm.” Williams and a business partner, Tamara A. Fleming, launched FEMWORKS, LLC from their living rooms in 2004. A multicultural marketing agency and photography studio based in Newark, New Jersey, FEMWORKS offers expertise in multicultural markets, and has a niche focus on African Americans, women and the African American gay and lesbian community. “Our first clients were folks that we knew from working together on projects for former employers. Those initial clients knew us and trusted the quality of our work.” Working with clients like the Sundance Channel and Census 2010, FEMWORKS helps increase recognition and brand awareness of local LGBT initiatives such as Newark’s African American Office of Gay Concerns, Newark-Essex Pride Coalition, and Liberation in Truth Unity Fellowship Church. – KW
