NAWBO CEO Update

Last week in the nation’s capital President Obama gave us the State of the Union Address. It made me realize it’s time for you all to get a State of NAWBO address since I took over the reins. Leading the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) has been an exhilarating adventure. As we relocated our offices back to DC in the fall, it provided an opportunity for us to increase NAWBO’s presence with policy makers and elected officials in our Nation’s Capitol.

Advocating for NAWBO members in Washington, D.C.
I am proud to have the opportunity to advocate in Washington, D.C. on behalf of our members. Representatives of both political parties as well as other organizations are seeking our input on issues facing women owned businesses like economic security and access to capital as well as the important role women entrepreneurs and women owned businesses plays in growing our economy. We have a real opportunity to impact public policy in 2012 and beyond.

A Legislative Victory & Growing Our Voice
A quick snapshot of some of our contributions to date includes:

Advocating as part of a larger coalition for the repeal of the 3% withholding tax (this is important to women business owners because it ends the this onerous tax withholding burden and provides greater certainty);
Attending the Democratic Steering & Outreach Committee’s roundtable discussion on Job Creation and Economic Security for Women CEO’s which was attended by many Senators including Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Capitol Hill; and
Participating in the Women Impacting Public Policy conference in DC with our Board member and past National Chair Kelly Scanlon.

Raising Our Visibility & Building New Relationships
In the coming months, I will continue to engage in activities to raise our visibility among key stakeholders and advance our agenda including:

Representing NAWBO along with other business leaders at a roundtable discussion on job creation and high growth entrepreneurial sectors with Senator Olympia Snowe, Chair of US Senate Small Business Committee on Capitol Hill, and
Serving on a panel this week at the White House Urban Economic Forum in New York City with high-level Administration officials such as Valerie Jarret, Senior Advisor to President Obama, Karen Mills, Administrator, Small Business Administration and women CEOs.

Meeting NAWBO Members & Getting Your Input
As you know, NAWBO has no shortage of enthusiastic members with success stories and best practices to share. I have been thrilled to be invited by many of the Chapters to visit. My first trips were to Pittsburgh for NAWBO Day and to Indianapolis with our Board Chair Evelyn Strange for their holiday luncheon, where the energy, enthusiasm and ideas of NAWBO members was contagious. I have been participating regularly on the President’s Assembly’s calls so that no opportunity gets missed to support your efforts and strengthen the relationship between the chapters and our staff, which remains a top priority for me. I am also pleased to share my excitement over the strength of candidates received for board member positions for 2012-2013.

Don’t Miss These Upcoming Events in 2012! We are working to provide network opportunities with other business leaders and government and private industry officials on events like the upcoming Financial Services Roundtable’s Small Business Lending Summit in April on access to capital and our partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Latino Coalition’s America’s Small Business Summit in May. I hope you will join us in Washington, D.C. for these exciting events.

Also planning is currently underway for the NAWBO Women’s Business Conference which will take place October 4-5 in Louisville, KY. Please visit CLICK HERE for more details including UPS’s role as our presenting sponsor and stay tuned for more details!

Strengthening the Partnership with Our Corporate Sponsors
Speaking of sponsors, our existing corporate sponsors clearly understand the power and impact of women business owners in the United States. For example, I was invited by Walmart and Sam’s Club where I spent the day visiting with their leadership and discussing ways to strengthen our efforts together moving forward. I was pleased to see that Sam’s Club has announced that Rosalind Brewer will assume the role of president and CEO next month. It’s exciting to see a woman in that role and we congratulate her on her appointment and look forward to working with her. Creating enduring relationships with corporate sponsors and pursuing new and strategic sponsors to make it possible for us to grow and become even more dynamic and influential will be one of my top responsibilities as we advance NAWBO and our causes. On this and all fronts, I am thankful for the warm welcome I have received in this new role and appreciate the support from the talented members of NAWBO’s National Board. I will continue to strive to make our voice, and your voice, heard in Washington, D.C. and across the country.

Sincerely,

Diane Tomb