Timeline
1975
- Association of Women Business Owners (AWBO) is incorporated.
1976
- AWBO goes national as preparations for organizing a national network of chapters is successfully implemented.
- The newly renamed National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) receives a $20,000 grant from Equitable Life Assurance Society to publish a directory of about 1,000 firms in the Baltimore area of which women were majority owners. The practice of publishing an annual directory continues, and today it functions in an online format.
- “…We worked hard to position the emergence of women business owners as a growing segment of the women’s movement and to develop the organizational base and structural guidelines for a national association. Our multiple strategy was to demonstrate to the media, to lawmakers, to federal government agency chiefs, to the White House staff and to the business community that women business owners were indeed viable. We were a new and growing market and a new and growing constituency.” --Susan Hagar, NAWBO National President, 1974-1975
- “During my term of office, which began in June 1976, we focused on 3 major issues. We continued to make the same case before the SBA that was women business owners should be included in programs that fostered participation of small businesses in federal procurement assistance programs. We advocated that women business owners be added to the list of minority businesses (Executive Order #11625) and urged that compliance reviews of government contracts under Executive Order #11246 include review for contracts awarded to women owned businesses.” --Mary King, NAWBO National President, 1975-1976
1980
- NAWBO national and chapter members attend the White House Conference on Small Business, testify before congressional committees, and participate in task forces and small business groups.
- “I think that was a key part of the climate so when we got into that room, it was a safe haven. And there people who understood the unasked question which is, why are you doing this? People understood that.” --Denise Cavanaugh, President, 1980-1981
- NAWBO seeds the creation of the Committee of 200.
1982
- NAWBO holds its first conference, which takes place in Houston, Texas.
The first National Public Affairs Day attracts Vice President George Bush and nine members of Congress who are presented with NAWBO’s six point plan.
1985
- NAWBO organizes Project 2000 to direct where members want the organization to be in the year 2000.
- NAWBO celebrates its 10th anniversary with 21 chapters representing 30 states and membership in Les Femmes Chefs d’Enterprises Mondiales (FCEM), an international organization of 17 countries.
1986
- NAWBO national and chapter members participate in the White House Conference on Small Business.
- As NAWBO president, Mary Kelly travels the U.S. trying to get more women involved: “It is the time to remind ourselves and our community (the world) of the value and importance of women business ownership. It’s the time to examine and analyze our plans for the future – economically, politically and socially.”
--Mary Kelly, NAWBO National President, 1985-1986
1987
- Women are admitted to U.S. Rotary Clubs.
1988
- HR 5050, the Women’s Business Ownership Act, is passed and the law is signed in a White House ceremony with President Reagan.
1989
- The National Foundation for Women Business Owners (NFWBO) becomes active as a research organization; they later changed their name to the Center for Women’s Business Research (CWBR) in 2001.
- “I adapted the House statement as our theme for 1989-90. NAWBO: America’s Competitive Advantage. I wanted us to understand that we’re not competing with countries, and not with men, but with ourselves. For each enterprise we control must produce the best quality goods and services possible. If every NAWBO member conscientiously works towards this goal, the effect on the U.S. economy will be profound.” --Carey Stacy, NAWBO National President, 1989-1990
1990
- A delegation of 13 Russian women, attempting to establish a Soviet Association of Women Business Owners similar to NAWBO, fly to Washington, D.C. and meet with NAWBO members and President George Bush. They also visit NAWBO Chapters in New York City, Miami, Houston, St. Louis, and Silicon Valley in California.
1992
- Women-owned firms employ more people than the Fortune 500 companies combined.
1993
- Past national NAWBO presidents are inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York.
1995
- Community banks use local data from NFWBO to designate women-owned businesses as a key market and take initiative to offer financial advice and education.
1996
- The U.S. Small Business Administration regional offices use NFWBO data to develop fact sheets for staffs to better understand and meet the needs of women entrepreneurs.
1998
- “NAWBO is the only organization that exclusively represents women business owners. And we represent women business owners in every arena.” --Diahann Lassus, NAWBO National President, 1998-1999
1999
- “This year NAWBO celebrates its 25th anniversary. I had the opportunity to spend some time with the founders of our organization recently. The foremost thing that stood out was their love and appreciation for each other, even now. They would not discuss who was the president at the time, or even who were the leaders. They truly believe that each one was a leader in those days… certainly an insight we can learn from. It was not about what any one individual accomplished, but how they used the various skills of each one to accomplish their joint goals. Sounds like they were the forerunners in the team concept. Another thing that gave me cold chills as I listened was how many things these women had started that we now work on as an organization or that we‘ve now accomplished. Topics such as measuring the number of women-owned firms, access to credit , access to capital, more contracting with the Federal government, women in corporate management, women on boards, and women in politics. The list goes on.”
--Whitney Johns Martin, NAWBO President, 1999-2000
2000
- NAWBO headquarters moves to Washington, D.C.
- “We have moved to downtown Washington, D.C. and this sends more of a signal than a change of address. This is a change of attitude. This is saying we are a player and we are an important organization representing the interest of those 9.1 million women business owners out there.” --Whitney Johns Martin, NAWBO President, 1999-2000
2001
- NAWBO suffers from the dot.com bust and fundraising obstacles, and suffers a significant fiscal deficit. The NAWBO Board of Directors contracts with Association Management Bureau for limited support for fundraising and event support.
- NAWBO decides to invest in a new technology system to provide better chapter and member communications, reporting, and services in light of reduced staff levels.
2002
- NAWBO signs on to the Women21.gov project, and participates in four town hall meetings across the country with President Bush.
- NAWBO’s financial decline is officially reversed, with the first in a series of six-figure surpluses reported for the 2002 FY.
2003
- NAWBO incorporates the NAWBO Institute for Entrepreneurial Development (NAWBO IED), a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that seeks to create educational experiences for established women entrepreneurs.
2004
- NAWBO welcomes American Express as a corporate partner, and exceeds $1 million in corporate partnerships for the first time.
- NAWBO hosts its first Summit of Women’s Organizations, with 14 organizations participating. End results include securing government support to create a master calendar of women’s business events, and new alliances, including one between NAWBO and Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence.
2005
- NAWBO celebrates its 30th anniversary, with 8,000 members and 78 chapters.
- NAWBO publishes Tapping Your Inner Entrepreneur, the first in a three volume book series.
- NAWBO premieres a draft of a new governance model to chapter and member leadership during the 2005 Women’s Business Conference. A Governance Learning Community is started to debate, discuss, researc,h and review governance concepts and structures.
- NAWBO forms WomenBizRelief to assist women entrepreneurs impacted by Hurricane Katrina. NAWBO convenes a coalition of 11 national organizations and corporations, established a Web site within 72 hours of the disaster, and raised over $40,000 in individual contributions within two weeks, all of which were granted to women business owners. The program later wins an Award of Excellence from the American Society of Association Executives.
2006
- NAWBO’s Member Services Council votes to implement the new governance structure, creating the Presidents Assembly, five strategic forums and reducing the size of the board to 13.
- NAWBO helps form and joins NEWWW, a new organization dedicated to expanding global entrepreneurship.
2007
- NAWBO leads a Women in Business Trade Mission to The Netherlands and Belgium, with 10 women entrepreneurs participating. The Mission receives a great deal of press coverage and is rated as “one of the most successful in the past five years” by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
- NAWBO continues to grow, with 9,000 members in 80 chapters across the U.S.
2008
- NAWBO submits testimony to the House and Senate Small Business Committees stating its its criticism of the proposed rules issued by the Small Business Administration for the women owned business set-aside program.
- NAWBO celebrates the 20th anniversary of the passage of the Women's Business Ownership Act, also known as H.R. 5050, which had an enormous positive effect on women's entrepreneurship in the United States.