It is such an exciting and interesting time to be the President of NAWBO Phoenix. As we navigate uncharted waters, the sea of change has felt rough and wild as a storm, with brief moments of calm, only to stir up again in our constantly changing environment.
One thing that will not change: NAWBO’s commitment to propelling women business owners — through advocacy, through education, through collaboration, through innovation and, most of all, through meaningful connections. We are committed to being the wind that not only allows our members to sail through the storm, but that launches them toward greatness.
NAWBO invites you to join us this year. Because when powerful women connect, there is nothing we can’t accomplish!
One of the blessings that this time has given us is an opportunity for all of us to examine our own unconscious bias, to look again at ways that we may unintentionally be contributing to system racism.
The face of female entrepreneurship is becoming a lot less white. Minority women control 44 percent of woman-owned businesses in the United States. The National Economic Bureau of Research recently reported that woman- and minority-owned businesses have been the hardest hit by the pandemic. Being a female entrepreneur can be lonely, especially so for a woman of color business owner.
NAWBO is committed to understanding the unique challenges faced by all our sisters, whether white, Black, Hispanic, Asian, Indigenous or LGBTQIA, and offering resources, support and a whoo-hoo crowd. NAWBO doesn’t want any woman business owner to walk her journey alone, but to be surrounded by people who support and propel her.
The State of Women-Owned Business Report released in March of this year tells us that women entrepreneurs are twice as likely as their male counterparts to give back to their communities. When we prosper as women business owners, our entire community thrives.
NAWBO encourages you to do business with local woman-owned businesses. We invite you to join us for one of our virtual meetings where you can meet the power women changing the face of our community. Follow us on LinkedIn or visit our website, www.nawbo.org/phoenix, to learn more, or email me a message through our website.
Jean Briese is a motivational speaker empowering teams and individuals to achieve breakthrough results. Briese helps organizations align their leaders with the organization’s goals, elevate leadership skills and create high-performing cultures. With more than 25 years of experience creating and leading award-winning teams for a Fortune 10 technology firm, Briese fills her engaging presentations with real-life examples and actions that can be taken immediately for personal or professional growth. Briese speaks in-person or virtually.
