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Public Meetings

NWBC Public Meeting, Wednesday, September 24, 2024, 1pm to 3pm at SBA Headquarters.

On September 24, 2024, the National Women’s Business Council hosted a public meeting at the Small Business Administration Headquarters in Washington, DC. NWBC’s third Public Meeting of FY 2024 provided updates regarding the Council’s subcommittee policy recommendations, SBA’s outreach and technical assistance innovations, and lived experiences from key guest speakers.

Public Meeting Recap

Opening Remarks:

  • NWBC Executive Director and Designated Federal Officer Tené Dolphin opened the meeting by welcoming guest and thanking her team. She described NWBC’s mission to make policy recommendations that advance women’s business ownership, informed by original research and convenings of government and private sector stakeholders. She called on Councilmembers, and 10 were present; 7 physically and 3 virtually. Physically present: Sima Ladjevardian, Roberta McCullough, Jen Earle, Karen Clark Cole, Leslie Lynn Smith, Dr. Shakenna Williams, Pamela Prince-Eason. Virtually present: Katica Roy, Kathy Cochran, and Selena Rodgers Dickerson. She concluded her remarks by providing Chair Sima Ladjevardian with a letter of appointment from President Joe Biden.

Chair Address:

  • Chair Sima Ladjevardian welcomed Councilmembers, guests, and audience members, and shared an overview of recent council activity.
  • Fiscal year 2024 began with our celebration of the 35th anniversary of the passage of H.R. 5050 and the creation of NWBC and the WBC program.
  • The 2023 Annual Report was published in December 2023, then shared and promoted it in consultations with Congressional, federal agency, and White House representatives during and after our first public meeting of the fiscal year, in January 2024.
  • In 2024, The Council met with Executive Branch representatives of entities including the White House’s Gender Policy Council and the Department of Commerce’s CHIPS Program Office to share our recommendations and discuss policy challenges and opportunities.
  • In the later spring and summer, NWBC hosted a series of discussions between Councilmembers and experts to spotlight challenges and solutions in critical policy areas for women business owners: access to projects and financing available through Invest in America programming; and ways to streamline and simplify certification as a WOSB and the process of bidding on government contracts.
  • This past June, NWBC held its most recent public meeting, and joined in partners’ convenings that provided opportunities to once again hear and learn from entrepreneurs while also highlighting our recommendations.
  • NWBC launched The Instagram Live series in August. Thus far, Chair Ladjevardian has had the honor of interviewing Assistant Administrator Christine Hale from SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership, and Nyakio Grieco, beauty entrepreneur and co-founder of Thirteen Lune.

Remarks:

  • Jaqueline Robinson-Burnette, SBA Associate Administrator, Office of Government Contracting and Business Development gave remarks. She spoke to the expediting of the certification and contracting process for women owned small businesses.
  • 65% of the women owned businesses winning contracts are disadvantaged and disenfranchised. The Office of Government Contracting & Business Development is aligning their 4 systems into 1, allowing for all applications to be submitted and reviewed at a more efficient rate.
  • The Office of Government Contracting and Business Development has a small group of small women business owners who are advising on behalf of women entrepreneurs who have applied for certifications to improve them. There are currently 48 proposals for women’s business centers focused on contracting.

Deeper Dive into Policy:

  • NWBC Associate Director of Policy and Research Erin Hustings briefly presented The Council’s research projects and findings. She highlighted the key impacts of their research on women STEM entrepreneurship.
  • A main surprise was the correlation, or lack thereof, between women with STEM degrees and women in STEM entrepreneurs.
  • NWBC’s collaboration with Dfusion
    • The highest rates of self-employment are in rural communities. 
    • Researchers are completing phase two of this research, which pinpointed the emphasis on community and identity mainly with tribal women.
    • Rural entrepreneurs echoed the sentiments of community and identity but mentioned the larger challenge of environment/land.
  • Access to Capital Subcommittee Chair Roberta McCullough presented the NWBC Subcommittee’s policy recommendations.
  • The Subcommittee spoke with subject matter experts and brainstormed ways to leverage opportunities and best practices. The topics investigated included
    • the effects of tax credits;
    • use of alternative lending criteria;
    • offers of diverse forms of capital not limited to loans and equity investments; and
    • ensuring fair pay for women business owners.
  • Councilmember Jen Earle noted NWBC Subcommittee’s priorities alignment with NAWBO policy priorities.
  • Access to Capital Subcommittee Policy Recommendations
    • Study and develop criteria for piloting expanded forgiveness of SBA-backed loans, building on the success of pandemic programs in transferring capital to entrepreneurs who have driven a small business startup boom.
    • Develop and promote use in finance decision-making of criteria, tools, and best practices that make it harder than not to act equitably. These could include criteria, digital tools that flag suspect proposed decisions for further review, training around how to positively weight factors like lived experience and technical knowledge, and more.
    • Amplify the impact of successful regulatory efforts to expand access to capital by studying and reporting on additional innovations to manage lending risk, such as philanthropic partnerships that invest private alongside public dollars in making loan guarantees, and allowances for regulated lenders to recognize financial knowledge and similar intangible traits as assets that mitigate assessed risk.
  • All subcommittee policy recommendations were voted in unanimously, with no comments for the good of The Council.
  • Access to Opportunity Subcommittee Member Pamela Prince-Easonopened by acknowledging the absence of Subcommittee Chair Selena Rodgers Dickerson. She gave a brief overview of the NWBC Subcommittee and their recommendations.
  • The Access to Opportunity subcommittee investigated three foundational questions that determine whether women entrepreneurs participate in and benefit from public investments:
    • How program marketing is funded and designed, and whether it supports and holds agency grantees accountable;
    • How women-owned small businesses experience the certification process and evaluate its value; and
    • How federal agencies can maximize WOSBs’ competition for and success at securing contracts.
  • Councilmember Prince-Eason introduced Renita Anderson, President and CEO of Defense Technology Integration LLC, who spoke to the impact of The Council. Anderson highlighted five key improvements she believes would support small business owners.
  • Access to Opportunity Subcommittee Policy Recommendations
    • Conduct, and help grantee partners be equally accountable for, smart, microtargeted outreach about government-funded assistance that resonates with women innovators who aren’t familiar with programming. To further leverage their communications planning efforts, federal agencies could build grantee toolkits that help resource partners market inclusively by identifying priority constituents, messages, and channels. Agencies will need Congressional authorization and dedicated funding for smart outreach.
    • Lead an effort to identify secure information-sharing protocols, record and category standards, and cybersecurity requirements that would enable expanded reciprocity and data exchange between business certifying bodies.If data-managing agencies explored methods for sharing information with trusted entities, including confidential application components with an applicant’s permission, they could help lay groundwork that increases the value of all certifications.
    • Adopt common contract bid/grant application elements and more live contact to expand opportunity for WOSBs in federal programs.
  • All subcommittee policy recommendations were voted in unanimously, with no comments for the good of The Council.
  • Inclusive Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Subcommittee Member Leslie Lynn Smith began by acknowledging the absence of Subcommittee Chair Kathy Cochran. She gave a brief overview of the NWBC Subcommittee and their recommendations.
  • The Subcommittee’s policy recommendations were written to further ensure that women and women of color enjoy preparation for entrepreneurship that puts them on equal footing with men in their own estimation and in social opinion. This Subcommittee strives for a country in which women and men have equal access to help managing life outside of business, and in which public and private sectors work together toward that purpose.
  • Councilmember Leslie Lynn Smith introduced Marilyn Lockman, the Founder and President of Handprints Community Partners, a home-based care provider in Baltimore, Maryland. Marilyn Lockman spoke to the vast challenges of being an entrepreneur in the childcare industry, emphasizing the large number of unsuccessful entrepreneurs. She explained America has a childcare crisis and she believes women entrepreneurs are the answer, with help from SBA and alike.
  • Inclusive Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Subcommittee Policy Recommendations
    • Creatively allocate more public supports, and construct foundational structures, for widely accessible, affordable childcare. It is clear through our analysis that access to safe, affordable childcare is an economic imperative and the incremental steps recommended here acknowledge that importance and set the table for transformational change. Support SBA grantee resource partners by regularly analyzing and promoting their accomplishments and considering whether reporting can be streamlined or automated. SBA could considerrequesting Census Bureau data collection about business owners’ interactions with its resource partners, as well as funding for an FTE in the Office of Women’s Business Ownership to manage both evaluation of WBCs’ strengths and ongoing technical assistance to these partners.Make entrepreneurial education a standard part of elementary, secondary, college, and workforce training programs. The Department of Education and other federal agencies could adopt and promote core curricular requirements. SBA could adapt its business training materials to various educational levels and train general-education teachers to encourage and cultivate entrepreneurial skills. It could also recommend its training resources to owners and managers of certified WOSBs.
    • Form an interagency working group to explore standardization of data collection about WOSBs using methods that capture community/social gains from women’s entrepreneurship. The White House, via OMB, could lead. Economic development data collection could include indicators that improve understanding of techniques that build trust between underrepresented constituents and government.
  • All subcommittee policy recommendations were voted in unanimously, with no comments for the good of The Council.

Remarks:

  • Aditi Dussault, SBA Acting Associate Administrator, Office of Entrepreneurial Development began her remarks by highlighting the new expansion of WBCs, raising the number to 180.
  • She emphasized the importance of contracting for this administration, which is also beginning to support WBCs who support childcare businesses and virtual WBCs.
    • There are various injunctions on programs which started with SBA’s 8(a) program, which was tailored for minority entrepreneurs.
    • There are now very similar challenges for the DBE program within the Department of Transportation.

Public Comments:

  • Council Member Dr. Shakenna Williams facilitated the Council’s response to comments submitted from attendees.
  • Renita Anderson shared a comment of gratitude for the council, believes the effort being put forward both within this meeting and outside of it is amazing and very impactful.

Closing Remarks:

  • Chair Sima Ladjevardian recognized and thanked NWBC Council Members, staff, Executive Director, SBA guest speakers, and audience members. She encouraged stakeholders to view NWBC resources, follow social media, and share thoughts and feedback to info@nwbc.gov.
  • The meeting adjourned at 2:52pm Eastern time.

Members Present

Members Virtual

NWBC Team

end of this event post.

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