- WOVEN: A Success!
- The Goodies – This week’s highlight is the Aspen Institute’s leadership development initiative for emerging leaders in the U.S. microbusiness field – Emerging Leaders in Microbusiness (ELM-squared). Applications are due tonight – November 14, 2014.
WOVEN: A Success!
Over 100 people attended our first WOVEN: Women Veteran Entrepreneurs Network event last Thursday, November 6 in Los Angeles. Co-hosted by the SBA, this event kicked off Veteran Small Business Week. Our agenda (see photo left) was chock-a-block with inspiration and meaty info to help women veterans start their own businesses.
Lindsey Sin, Deputy Secretary, Women Veterans Affairs, California Department of Veterans Affairs, kicked off the event by inspiring the crowd to climb over one last obstacle and providing the motivation to keep at their business even when it’s tough. One of the highlights was our lunch keynote Karen Bates (see photo below right), co-founder of Military Home Loans, a successful, $1 million plus business. One of the attendees noted:
I connected with what she was saying, because she was real. It is nice when people are honest that things are not easy and there is no one size fits all.
We had some amazing sessions. Attendees learned…
- what it takes to be an entrepreneur;
- that everything is negotiable;
- that you can that you can develop your business plan – from your PHONE!;
- how to brand your product;
- where to get financing for your business; and
- how to do business with the government
The women who attended were engaged and thrilled with the information and resources that we brought to them. So much so that when asked at the end if they wanted to continue to gather, the overwhelming majority raised their hand and more than a dozen offered to participate in a leadership capacity. And we know they connected to each other. The woman who won the opportunity drawing gave her one week resort stay to another participant whom she had just met. CAMEO is excited to continue to build on this community that we brought together and we’ll let you know soon how you can become involved.
Thanks to our generous supporters: Pacific Western ($5K), East West ($2.5K), Seacoast Bank ($2.5K), Federal Home Loan Bank ($1K), First Republic ($1K), Friedman Foundation ($1K), Military Home Loans ($1K), and Union Bank ($1K).
And thanks to our amazing host committee: Betsy Densmore/Academies for Social Entrepreneurship, Elizabeth Schott/Accion San Diego, Ron Fong/Asian Pacific Islander Small Business Program, Sharon Evans/Business Resource Group, Lindsey Sin/California Department of Veteran Affairs, Stacey Sanchez/CDC Small Business Finance, Mike Sabellico/Disabled Veteran Business Alliance, Sandy Schneeberger/Elite SDVOSB Network, Ann Duson/Inland Empire Women Veterans Collaborative and Women Veterans Unity Group, Liz Perez/GC Green and The Jonas Project, Jesse Torres/Long Beach SBDC, Swann Do/PACE, Constance Anderson/Pacific Coast Regional SBDC, Forescee Hogan-Rowles/ RISE Financial Pathways, Marsell Watts/VEDC, and Jo Ann Martinez/Women Veterans Connect.
We couldn’t have done it without you.
For a full agenda and more information about the event, visit bit.ly/cameowoven. Check out the WOVEN photo album on our Facebook page.
The Goodies
New opportunities for training, conference information, funding, scholarships, and other information that have crossed our desks since the last Must Know. I have posted a running tab of current Industry Goodies on the CAMEO website that lists items that were in past emails. Check it out to make sure you’re not missing anything, like grants whose deadlines are still alive!
Professional Development: The Aspen Institute’s leadership development initiative for emerging leaders in the U.S. microbusiness field – Emerging Leaders in Microbusiness (ELM-squared)– offers a powerful and productive learning opportunity for high potential staff. Thanks to the continued support of Capital One, FIELD announces that the Request for Applications for its third class of fellows is now available online. Applications are due November 14, 2014.
Micro Conference: Lend for America will hold its 6th annual conference at UC Berkeley on November 15-16. The conference is a hands-on training opportunity for students to learn from experts in the field and network with each other, and includes presenters from several CAMEO Bay Area members, including La Cocina, OBDC, and MEDA. Sessions are trainings on microenterprise topics including underwriting, client outreach, collections, business development, data collection, and more. The sessions would be useful for any entry-level staff out there or students/interns in your network. The promo code ‘microlend30’ will let you sign up for the early bird rate of $65.
Healthcare Webinars: The Small Business Administration and Small Business Majority are helping businesses navigate health care through the webinar series What the Healthcare Law Means For Your California Small Business . It’s every two weeks in English and monthly in Spanish. The next ones are on November 19, 2014 at 10:00am and November 19, 2014 at 1:00pm respectively.
New Report: As part of the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) commitment to strengthening rural economies, Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a new state-by-state “Made in Rural America” report illustrating the impact of USDA investments in rural communities. Download the California factsheet that highlights specific USDA investments in rural businesses, manufacturing, energy, water and other infrastructure development. They also outline how USDA is helping rural communities attract businesses and families by investing in housing and broadband.