There’s a great leadership quote that says: “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
Women business owners from across the U.S. came together in Long Beach, California, last week for two days of NAWBO HQ’s Leadership Academy designed to help them become the kind of leaders who inspire in this world of change.
The event opened with a toast to leadership followed by NAWBO National Board Chair-Elect Lisa Coppola sharing about the pillars of NAWBO—Advocacy, Education and Leadership—and what these mean now, and in the future.
“NAWBO was founded to advocate for women business owners, who at the time couldn’t buy their own car or house, let alone take out a business loan,” Lisa said. “As we grew, we added education to teach and inspire women to access credit, scale and so much more. And as we advocated and learned together, we became business, chapter and community leaders.”
Angela Garmon of ARG Coaching and Consulting, who is NAWBO National’s 2022 Member of the Year, delivered a powerful keynote where she shared about a leader’s vision and how it can ignite, empower and transform lives. As part of this, she spoke about a personal health crisis and what this “season of change” ultimately taught her about leadership.
“The clearer I became with my vision, people had no choice but to get on board,” Angela said. “I didn’t have to convince anyone, but inspire them.”
The inspiration that followed included everything from a panel discussion on the road to resiliency as leaders and a talk on breaking through communication barriers to create winning teams, to a membership panel and roundtables on advocacy, diversity and inclusion, corporate partnerships and more.
There was also fun at happy hours and community caring through a bra drive for local women in need, a beach clean-up activity and mentoring with two local Girl Scouts.
Here’s a look back in photos at this year’s inspiring event (click on the image to view it larger):
Ready For More Inspiration? Join Us For:
HERstory in the Making
March 29 on Zoom
(A free virtual international summit with a focus on the circular economy; register at the link above)
Advocacy Days
June 6-7 in Washington, DC
(An advocacy-in-action event where your voice will be heard…look for registration to open shortly)
National Women’s Business Conference
October 15-17 in Austin, Texas
(NAWBO’s biggest event of the year for women powering big dreams; register at the link above and be entered to win a 1-night stay at our host hotel)