Our Story

Our story starts when our founder befriended Ella, another 26-year old, English speaker, and a refugee from Nigeria. When Ella shared her story of migration, and her dream to become the first woman in her family to work, we used our network to connect Ella to her first job.

We noticed a labor market gap in the hospitality industry, and saw an opportunity to create a brand new model: one where women like Ella would have access to a paid, professional training program that would meet them where they are at, and provide them the experience, self-confidence, and a recognized qualification to launch their careers.

In April 2020 we founded the Association for the Integration of Women whose mission is to “provide resources for women to establish roots and flourish” and in 2022 opened Roots as a self-sustaining social impact model.