Time flies when you’re having fun.
In this issue of NAWBO ONE, we look back at this milestone year that came and went in what felt like the blink of an eye. It began with the kick off of a yearlong celebration of our 40th anniversary sponsored by Bank of America. NAWBO was founded in 1975 by a group of women entrepreneurs who joined together to remove obstacles and create opportunities for other women entrepreneurs across the country. Since then, we have grown to boast thousands of members in chapters in nearly every major city nationwide, and we continue to grow each month in both strength and numbers. It’s exciting to imagine what we’ll look like in another 40 years.
As the months passed, we saw that we had more than a milestone anniversary to celebrate. Some of 2015’s key highlights include:
- One of our most successful annual membership drives in years that brought in a record number of fresh faces and retained longtime loyal members who are invaluable to NAWBO
- A No Small Thing video contest that attracted some incredibly well thought out and executed video entries that made the winners hard to choose and allowed us to honor the small business community that’s at the heart of NAWBO
- Another NAWBO/Web.com State of Women-Owned Business Report that showed we’re more optimistic than ever about the future of our businesses and women’s entrepreneurship
- An inaugural Public Policy Day where we engaged with public officials and their staff members on Capitol Hill that we hope to repeat and grow every year
It really has been an incredible year, and we cannot wait to kick off 2016 with all the exciting plans we have in store for our members and extended community, from membership plan simplification, to new education opportunities, to another amazing national conference in a critical election year! Meanwhile, on behalf of the entire NAWBO staff and Board of Directors, I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and healthy holiday season. We are appreciative that our members continue to turn to us, and to one another, for inspiration, advice, resources and business, and to our partners for their generous support of NAWBO. We are truly stronger together.
My very best wishes for this holiday season and 2016,
—Crystal Arredondo, NAWBO National Chair