afghan biz women

Several female business owners from Afghanistan will arrive in Oklahoma City next month as part of a program intended to teach 13 women about entrepreneurship.

The T. Boone Pickens Foundation, a charitable agency formed last year by Oklahoma oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, donated $50,000 (U.S.) to the Women Impacting Public Policy Institute to help fund the program.

Beginning this month, 13 Afghan participants will go to Midland, Mich., for five weeks and then to Washington in September for an institute conference. Four of the women will travel to klahoma City in September to shadow female business owners.

"It was incredible to see the work that these 13 women have accomplished in their country," said institute president Terry Neese. "Some of them have faced tremendous obstacles to operate their businesses."