Registration is Now Open for the LACE Awards
The LACE Awards celebration is only a month away! Have you purchased your ticket yet? Hurry! Space is limited.
Open to our entire membership, the LACE Awards, which stands for Ladies Achieving Continuous Excellence, is a black-tie gala that celebrates, recognizes and awards both corporate partners and women business enterprises (WBEs) that made major contributions to the mission of GWBC. LACE Awards are given to companies or individuals for their outstanding support of women-owned businesses through mentoring, coaching, networking, powerful initiatives and procurement opportunities.
The 2023 LACE nominees are:
ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR – CORPORATION
•T.J. Lewis, Ally Financial
•Stephanie Vera, BMW Manufacturing Co.
•Clovice Vaughn, Grady Health System
•Sonya Balogun, IHG Hotels & Resorts
•Valerie Nesbitt, Norfolk Southern
•Floss Aggrey, randstad
•Dr. Dwan Armstrong, The Clorox Company
•Sally Wilson, Truist Financial Corporation
•Marc Winston, Walmart
ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR – WBE
• Sarah Ellis, AEC Works
• Justina Ugwudi, ModelsBasketball dba
Legendary Icons
• Sushumna Roy Jalajam, Softpath System, LLC
• Tiffany “Tip Jones” Keaton, Tip Jones
Global
• Tia Robinson, Vertical Activewear
BUYER OF THE YEAR
• Jessica McMahan, Brasfield & Gorrie
• Jodie Black, Georgia Power
• Sonya Balogun, IHG Hotels & Resorts
• Luis De La Cruz, Norfolk Southern
• Nino Campos, randstad
• Richard Rubino, UPS
CORPORATION OF THE YEAR
• Accenture
• Ally Financial
• AT&T
• BMW Manufacturing Co.
• Grady Health System
• randstad
THE VOICE AWARD
• UPS
TRAILBLAZER OF THE YEAR
• Desiree Booker, ColorVizion Lab LLC
• Sharon Goldmacher, communications 21, inc.
• Julie Haley, Edge Solutions LLC
• Moira Vetter, Modo Modo Agency
• Trudy Hanna, PIE Imports, LLC
• Sheronica Burgess, The Barcliff Group Inc.
• Dr. Patricia Morgan, The Executive Learning Lab
• Tiffany “Tip Jones” Keaton, Tip Jones
Global
• Tia Robinson, Vertical Activewear
• Chondra Myers, WEBMyers Construction
• Yaminah Childress, J.D., YANY Beauty
You won’t want to miss out on this unforgettable evening for our amazing corporate partners and WBEs. You’ll have a fantastic view of the Beluga Whales and Whale Sharks at The Georgia Aquarium while seeing everyone dressed for success! Join us on November 3, 6 – 10 p.m., and enjoy great company, a silent auction and awards galore!
Reserve your tickets here.
Learn more about our sponsors here: Accenture, Ally, Amazon, Avacend, Bank of America, BMW, Brasfield & Gorrie, Cigna, Delta, Dematic, Dominion Energy, Equifax, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Georgia Power, Grady, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Invesco, Microsoft, Milliken, NCR, Norfolk Southern, Peapod Digital Labs, Randstad, Skanska, Softpath System, Sonoco, Southern Company Gas, Synovus, The Clorox Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Toyota, Trane Technologies, Truist, UPS, Walmart and Wells Fargo
Find an Ally at the Next Mornings with GWBC
Have you ever attended Mornings with GWBC? Your next opportunity is October 16!
This virtual event will feature GWBC’s Director of Programs, Maria Balais, as she talks with the Supplier Diversity Team at Ally Financial, led by T.J. Lewis, Senior Director Supplier Diversity & Sustainability.
Come prepared to this interactive episode with questions about growing your business! There will be a chance to win a $25 Macy’s gift card, so mark your calendars for October 16 from 10 – 10:30 a.m.
Register here and learn more about Ally Financial.
GWBC Registration Discount ($750 savings) Ends October 6, 2023 –
You Don’t Want to Miss the TEDWomen 2023 Two Steps Forward Event, Atlanta, GA
Want to hear from award-winning actor Glenn Close or writer producer and filmmaker Ava Duvernay? How about Karinna Grant, digital fashion designer or Aisha Nyandoro, poverty disruptor? Mark your calendars for this can’t-miss event!
TEDWomen 2023 Two Steps Forward is a three-day event featuring 40+ TED talks focused on technology, entertainment, science, social justice and education. This celebrates leaders across all industries, genders, generations, geographies and disciplines to amplify and accelerate ideas that will build a more equitable future for everyone.
The TEDWomen event will take place on October 11-13 in Atlanta. If you are interested in participating, please contact Roz Lewis at rlewis@gwbc.org by October 6.
From October 11 – 13, learn and get inspired by these powerful TED Talks, workshops, networking and so much more! Will we see you there?
Did You Attend the Power of Partnering (POP) Event?
Last month, we gathered for the Power of Partnering, a half-day event featuring women entrepreneurs, business leaders, corporations and procurement professionals to educate, network and create substantial opportunities to reach their business goals.
Hosted by The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, this event featured a powerful keynote presentation by Dr. Janelle Williams, the former Principal Adviser for the Community Economic Development team at The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Regarding our region, Dr. Williams pointed out that Georgia has 533,030 women-owned firms, and North Carolina boasts 350,199 while South Carolina has 171,056. In Georgia, 48% are Black-owned and only 8% are Latina/Hispanic – however the revenue share is much lower for non-minority women-owned firms. In fact, she provided a powerful quote to back up the statistics – “If the average revenue of minority, women-owned businesses matched that of white women-owned businesses, 4 million new jobs and $981 billion in revenue would be created.” Really good food for thought.
Attendees also enjoyed a discussion panel featuring Teri Dennison, district director, U.S. SBA Georgia District Office, Tina Baker, president/founder, Cadence Group, Veronica Maldonado-Torres, president/CEO, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and GWBC’s Roz Lewis. The panel discussed public policy trends that impact small businesses.
We’re already looking forward to next year’s Power of Partnering event!
SC Department of Commerce sponsors “Navigating the Certification Maze” September 7,2023.
As a business owner, you already know certifications are one step towards growing your company but how do you determine which certifications are best for you? Panelists representing local/state agencies, minority council and GWBC shared with the audience the option to become certified with more than one certifying organization based upon the criteria.
Over 75+ businesses were in attendance at the Midlands Tech NE Campus, Columbia, SC for this event sponsored and hosted by the SC Department of Commerce, SC.
Panelist from:
• Carolinas-Virginia Minority Supplier Development Council
• Continental North America
• Richland County Office of Small Business Opportunity
• U.S. Small Business Administration
• South Carolina Department of Transportation
• South Carolina Division of Small and Minority Business Contracting Certification
• GWBC
Thank you to everyone who attended, especially the amazing panel!
Congratulations to the 3 Perfect Pitch Finalists
We had a fantastic time at the Perfect Pitch Competition on September 12!
Congratulations to our two finalists: Shelly Ann Winokur with Kiss Kiss Goodnight and Victoria Freeman with Ironmatik LLC. Earlier this year, Tia Robinson from Vertical Activewear also placed in the finals and will join Shelly Ann and Victoria as they head to the 2023 WBENCPitch Momentum Competition in November.
Thank you to our judges – Cassandra Walker (Ally Financial), Greg Munoz (Sonoco), Latesha Isbell (Georgia Power), Keya Grant (Constellation Brands), Cameron Boli (Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta) and Melissa Adams (UPS) - for coming out and making the difficult decisions. We’ll see you at the WBENCPitch competition next month!
Keep up to date here.
WNC Women in Business Include GWBC President & CEO
GWBC President and CEO Roz Lewis was featured in the recent issue of the WNC Women in Business magazine, alongside some amazing business women focused in a variety of industries. In this article, these top businesswomen discuss the challenges that women face as business owners such as gender disparities and the revolutionary ways women are helping women navigate through these issues.
GWBC’s certification, education and funding opportunities are spotlight in this issue and Roz stated, “We’ve certified close to 1 million businesses between three states. Think about what that number must mean for economic value. These are women going out and trying to make a difference in their communities, and they are hiring within their communities. The breadth and quality and talent that we have within these women-owned businesses is phenomenal, as most small businesses are.”
Read more from Roz and the other incredible business women in the recent issue of WNC Women in Business here
Maria Balais Featured on the Uplifting Places Podcast
Check out our Director of Programs, Maria Balais, on the newest episode of the Uplifting Places Podcast! Hosted by Melody Herclerode, Maria discussed the start of her career at the Latin American Association (LAA) and the importance and growth of the Hispanic community in the Atlanta area.
Melody and Maria also chat about Maria’s role at GWBC as Director of Programs and how this position has allowed her to learn from and assist groups of individuals she’s never encountered.
“The founders of these women-owned businesses are really just phenomenal and inspiring and incredibly innovative and creative,” stated Maria. “It’s really mind boggling to me that we have these resources right here in Atlanta.”
Take a moment to listen to Maria’s episode here.
October Sponsor Spotlight – Georgia Power
You literally couldn’t shine a spotlight on anything without power – so it makes sense that this month’s feature is on Georgia Power which has been supplying Georgia with electricity for more than 130 years. It got its start in the late 1880s when Atlanta jumped on the trend of electric lighting.
Nowadays, Georgia Power is the largest operating company within Southern Company with over 6,000 employees and 2 million customers. In 2022, the company’s total sales were 88.4 billion kilowatt-hours.
Thank you for your continued support of GWBC and our WBEs.
Learn more about Georgia Power here.
Board Member Spotlight on Greg Munoz
Our Board Member Spotlight this month is on Greg Munoz! Greg is Vice President, Global Supply Management and Logistics for Sonoco Products Company, a $6.5B diversified packaging solutions company in South Carolina.
Prior to joining Sonoco in 2003, Greg had over 26 years of experience working with Motorola (now General Dynamics) and Honeywell Aerospace.
Passionate about the advancement of diversity and inclusion, Greg supports the Sonoco Supplier Diversity program and is a Co-Sponsor for the Women’s Business Resource Group. Learn more about Greg here.
It’s National Women’s Small Business Month
Did you know that there are more than 11 million women-owned small businesses in the United States? October is a perfect time to support one of them in honor of National Women’s Small Business Month. This celebration started in 2012 when it was publicized by the Small Business Administration and is the perfect time to increase business diversity and honor milestone achievements.
There are so many ways to celebrate National Women’s Small Business Month! Shop at a small business, attend a webinar, find your local Women’s Business Center or join an organization!
Find a local event near you.
Georgia:
• Celebrating Women’s Small Business Month: Resources for Women in Business
• Prosper Summit for Women in Business
North Carolina:
• Womenpreneur Wednesday: Pop-Up Coworking
• Federal Contracting: Women Owned Small Business Program
South Carolina:
• Women Entrepreneurs Networking
• Northeast Women in Business
Domestic Violence Awareness Month
October is also Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The first Domestic Violence Awareness Month took place in 1987, almost 10 years after the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence was established.
Twenty Americans experience intimate partner violence every 60-seconds, according to a CDC survey. This month focuses on inspiring change, supporting victims and doing your part to end domestic violence.
Consider donating to a women’s shelter today.
• Georgia
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
Upcoming Local And National Events
Local opportunities & events (GA, NC, SC) 10.16 – Mornings with GWBC – Ally Financial – 10 – 10:30 a.m.
10.19 – How to Get Certified – 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
10.26 – WBE Orientation – 1:30 – 2:30 p.m.
National events (WBENC)
10.4 – Women Owned in Retail: Macy’s Presents ‘It Starts With Her’ – 2 – 4 p.m.
10.11 – 10.23 – TEDWomen 2023: Two Steps Forward
10.13 – The Power of Collective Voices: Share Valuable Practices to Leverage Your Community – 1 – 2:30 p.m.
