In honor of Women’s History Month, we invite you to attend the 2nd Annual Women’s Business Summit.

Please join the Office of Women’s Business Ownership of the Small Business Administration, the National Women’s Business Council, the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, Wells Fargo, and the Association of Women’s Business Centers for power-packed panels, inspirational fireside chats, and ‘Ask an Expert’ workshops to help you build, scale, and grow your business.

Please note the Summit’s fireside chats, keynotes, panels, and Ask an Expert sessions will take place virtually from March 28-29, 2023.

We will regularly update the event page and registrants’ virtual attendee pages with speaker announcements and the schedule as we get closer to the event.

We look forward to engaging with you throughout the Summit!

A more detailed agenda can be found at the bottom of this page.

Currently scheduled panels, workshops, chats, remarks, and guests include:

Featured Remarks

SBA Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman will be delivering remarks throughout the 2nd Annual Women’s Business Summit, highlighting the Biden-Harris Administration’s and SBA’s commitment to advancing women’s entrepreneurship and celebrating the conclusion of Women’s History Month.

She Works Smart for the Money: A Best-Fit Approach to Accessing Capital

Women are the fastest growing entrepreneurial segment in the country but obtain capital at disproportionally lower rates than their male colleagues. Women of color are even less represented in obtaining venture capital or business loans. This panel will highlight programs and organizations to support increasing access to capital for women owned small businesses for both main street businesses and high-tech startups.

Moderator: Nicola Corzine, Executive Director, NASDAQ Entrepreneurship Center

Panelists:

• Maria Palacio, CEO of Progeny Coffee
• Terriekka Cardenas, CEO of Perceptive Engineering & Construction
• Carolyn Rodz, CEO of Hello Alice
• Yuliya Tarasava, Co-founder/COO of CNote

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs—Supporting Equity, Uplifting the Small Business Sisterhood

This panel will feature entrepreneurs who are actively prioritizing and building equity into their own business models. Panelists will discuss strategies and identify best practices, sharing how these trailblazing women—market- and changemakers—are not only bringing novel products and services to diverse consumers, but also contributing to their communities by providing jobs, community-based co-working, innovation “safe spaces” to improve supports for a growing sisterhood.

Moderator: Tene Dolphin, Executive Director, National Women’s Business Council

Panelists:

• Jaime Gloshay, Co-Founder of Native Women Lead and NWBC Council Member
• Gizelle George-Joseph,COO for the Global Investment Research (GIR) Division at Goldman Sachs
• Nicole Cober, Founder of the BOW Collective and Principal Managing Partner of Cober Johnson and Romney
• Marla Bilonick, President & CEO of NALCAB

Making HerStory: HBCUs Strengthening Women Entrepreneurs in Underserved Communities.

The impact of HBCUs extends beyond the students they educate. They are economic engines that support the communities in which they are located. This panel will discuss how HBCUs spur economic development and with the support of SBA support women entrepreneurs.

Moderator: Donald Malcolm Smith, Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Women’s Business Ownership

Panelists:

• Bobbie Knight, President of Miles College
• Roslyn Clark Artis, President of Benedict College

Fireside Chat with SBA Resource Partners

Women entrepreneurs are supported by a unique support network of organizations and resource partners. This fireside chat will focus on the ways in which SBA resource partners are working to provide on-the-ground support to women business owners and opportunities to leverage these resources to support business growth and development.

Moderator: Donald Malcolm Smith, Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Women’s Business Ownership

Panelists:

• Corinne Goble, CEO of the Association of Women’s Business Centers
• Bridget Weston, CEO of the SCORE Association

Supporting Native American Women Entrepreneurial Ecosystems

Native women face a distinct entrepreneurial journey, leveraging their relationships with their networks, communities, identity, and culture to strengthen their businesses. This panel will focus on how supports designed to advance Native women’s entrepreneurship succeed and struggle.

Moderator: Jackson Brossy, Associate Administrator of SBA’s Office of Native American Affairs

Panelists:

• Monica Jojola, President of Montech, Inc.
• Veronica Maturino, CEO of ONABEN
• Onna LeBeau, Director of the Office of Indian Economic Development in the Department of the Interior

Ask an Expert Workshops

Ask an Expert workshops are technical deep dives into specific topics with leaders from the U.S. Small Business Administration. They provide an opportunity for attendees to ask pressing and more specific questions of our community and to receive technical presentations and ‘how tos’. To join one or all sessions, click the Add On section when registering to RSVP for the session of interest.

The order of the sessions and their speakers will include:

• Innovation and Investment “Ask an Expert” led by Bailey DeVries, Associate Administrator of SBA’s Office of Investment and Innovation (OII)
• Veterans Small Business Certification “Ask an Expert” led by John Perkins, Director of the Veterans Small Business Certification Program
• Certification and Contracting “Ask an Expert” led by Alisa Sheard, Director of the Women Owned Small Business Contracting Program
• Ascent Platform “Ask an Expert” led by Mark Madrid, Associate Administrator of SBA’s Office of Entrepreneurial Development (OED)
• Exporting and International Trade “Ask an Expert” led by Claire Ehmann, Deputy Associate Administrator of SBA’s Office of International Trade (OIT)
• Accessing Loans and Micro Finance “Ask an Expert” led by Veronica Pugin, Senior Advisor to SBA’s Office of Capital Access

For those who missed last year’s Women’s Business Summit or who are interested in getting an idea of what this year’s Women’s Business Summit will look like, be sure to check out the videos below.

Cosponsorship Authorization #23-21-C: The SBA’s participation in this cosponsored activity is not an endorsement of the views, opinions, products or services of any cosponsor or other person or entity. All SBA programs and services are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least 48 hours in advance of this event; please send an email to [email protected] with subject header ACCOMMODATION REQUEST. For assistance with registration or other technical difficulties, please contact [email protected].