The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), Propeller and the SBA District Office Host Roundtable

16 October 2015

Propeller, the NWBC, the SBA District Office, and the Senate Committee for Small Business & Entrepreneurship talk Women Powering Social Change alongside female entrepreneurs, funders, and lenders.

The Senate Committee for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (headed by Louisiana Senator David Vitter) announced the bi-partisan passing of a resolution to make October 2015 the first ever Women's Small Business Month.

New Orleans, LA (October 16, 2015) – Interest in social entrepreneurship as a field has grown – entrepreneurs are interested in businesses that not only make money, but that support and invest in their communities and have a broader social purpose. The NWBC partnered with Propeller – a Louisiana-based nonprofit organization founded in 2009 that incubates and launches socially-minded ventures, and the SBA District Office to host a roundtable yesterday to strategize how best to support women and their social enterprises. The discussion focused on how to better support the niche community of female entrepreneurs interested in launching businesses that create both social and economic value.

“Given the growth in social enterprises, particularly for women entrepreneurs, we need to be strategizing on how to best support these businesses,” said Amanda Brown, Executive Director of the NWBC. “Investments are critical – in terms of access to capital and resources, and other opportunities. And there’s no better place to host this conversation than New Orleans – a city that has truly shown itself to be resilient and creative in the face of devastation.”

The “Women Power Social Change” roundtable was hosted on Thursday, October 15th at the Propeller shared work space. Amanda Brown, Executive Director of the National Women’s Business Council, Andrea Chen, Executive Director of Propeller, and Michael Ricks, the District Director for the U.S. Small Business Administration District gave opening remarks. Meredith West, Policy Director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship followed with the announcement of the successful passing of Louisiana Senator David Vitter’s resolution to establish October 2015 as National Women’s Small Business Month.

Participants were diverse including female social entrepreneurs, lenders and funders, and members of the broader entrepreneurship community. Participants shared their individual experiences and together the group identified best practices and strategies for supporting women and their social enterprises as they raise capital, access resources, and build pnetworks.

ABOUT THE NWBC: The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) is a non-partisan federal advisory council created to serve as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners.

ABOUT PROPELLER: Propeller drives social, environmental, and economic impact in New Orleans by incubating ventures that have the potential to solve our city’s most pressing issues. Our vision is to build a critical mass of entrepreneurs tackling key challenges in our issue areas of food security, water, healthcare, and education in order to make significant change for underserved individuals and build a more equitable, prosperous city.

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For more information contact:
Samhita Mukhopadhyay
(202) 615 – 6570
Samhita.M@NWBC.gov

Catherine Gans
(504) 302-3747
CGans@GoPropeller.org

The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), Propeller and the SBA District Office Host Roundtable

Propeller, the NWBC, and the SBA District Office gather entrepreneurs, lenders, and funders for a discussion of the experience of women social entrepreneurs and best practices to support them.