I-WE Annual Report 2019

The most gratifying outcome of 2019 was seeing our I-WE Network light up with collaborations between members that advance women entrepreneurs.  This is creating a more powerful vision of the economic role women businesses play which reinforces the rationale of why we need to invest in women entrepreneurs.  Following is an outline of key activities that we undertook with our collaborating partners in the past year, all of which will continue advancing in 2020.

  1. Goal:  Increase Funding and Resources for WBCs

    • Supported Corinne Hodges, CEO of Assoc. of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC), to broaden mindset and be more assertive with funding requests:  AWBC achieved historic 22% increase in SBA/OWBO funding – a good start! Corinne is now connected with I-WE influencers to support this mission.

    • Will continue working with AWBC to obtain Re-Authorization of OWBO legislation with higher cap on grants and overall allocation above $30million.

    • Contracted in December with CA WBC Network to serve as Advocate, leading strategy for obtaining $2.6 m in State Budget, to secure core funding for each WBC as well as funding for new centers.

    • Advocated for new WBC in LA- SBA issued RFP in January for this region.

    • Worked with Union Bank to create WE-CAN, a two year, $500K commitment to funding 6 WBCs in CA, plus funds for organizational capacity building and advocacy. (Never underestimate the power of schmoozing!) This is the first such commitment from a major bank in the US.  We will be involved in assessing effectiveness of this program and sharing with our national partners.

  2. Goal: Increase Access to Capital

    • Published report on our survey findings, What do Women Want in Growth Financing.  This is the first survey of WBEs financing needs that segmented by size of business, and size and type of loan products.  

    • Pitching several banks to create products, i.e. lines of credit, that align with survey outcomes.  Lack of collateral and personal assets are the main challenge WBEs face in securing bank financing.  CDFIs are not providing LOCs, despite the SBA’s CapLine loan guarantees.

    • Organized Focus Group for WBEC-West member WBEs that produced significant insights into why WBEs were struggling to access the type of credit they needed to grow and fulfill contracts obtained through WBEC-West.  

    • Designed high-level financial education webinars in collaboration with WBECs, NASDAQ Entrepreneur Center with support from Bank of the West – to be delivered in mid 2020.

    • Ambassador for RSF Social Finance and the Women’s Capital Collaborative to raise awareness among wealth managers.  The challenge remains that most social impact funds are seen as too small and therefore not a fit with normal investment options.  Yet, there is a definite demand, especially by millennials who seek impact from their investments. We will continue to work together to explore how to complement market rate funds with these social impact options.

  3. Goal: Raise awareness of economic benefits of investing in women entrepreneurs

    • Contracted with Erin Musgrave of EMC Strategies to assist with PR and promotion strategies

    • Stephanie Podue using social media

    • Published Op-Ed in The Hill and in Forbes online

    • Created communications materials for CA WBCs to use in their local and statewide advocacy and fundraising, including a budget request and informational handout on all CA WBCs.

    • Interviewed women entrepreneurs and leaders for our blog

Financial Report

Revenues

Individual Contributions 27,000

Grants 10,000

Fees for Services                                 2,000

Total Revenues             39,000

Expenses

Communications Director 12,500

EMC 10,000

Travel/Conferences                 3,000

Total Expenses 25,500

Net 13,500