The impact the more than 14 million U.S. women business owners have on the economy is undeniable—making our voice more important than ever. Over 200 of these entrepreneurial women, representing all industries and stages of business growth, came together at the National Association of Women Business Owners’ NAWBO Days in Washington D.C. to send a powerful message to help generations of current and future women business owners.
The three-day event included NAWBO’s Annual Membership Meeting, Leadership Onboarding, Board Installation, Annual Awards Gala and Advocacy Days. “With our current climate of political unrest, polarization, mental health crisis and more, it is up to us to push forward to make a difference and come together with everyone in our communities to continue to create a brighter future,” said NAWBO CEO Jen Earle as she kicked off the first day.
One of the highlights of this year’s event was the opportunity to engage with legislative decision makers. NAWBO rolled out its 2024 Advocacy Agenda that embodies the ever-present need to represent all of its members while creating both the avenue and environment to build sustainable women-owned businesses. As part of it, participants shared in group meetings on Capitol Hill about proposed bill language to better address the needs of “microbusiness” and encourage emerging entrepreneurs.
There were also opportunities to celebrate. At the Awards Gala, NAWBO announced the 2024 Woman Business Owner of the Year—an award honoring overall business excellence that is sponsored by Bank of America. This year’s winner is Amalia Moreno-Damgaard, founder of Amalia Latin Gourmet and member of NAWBO Minnesota.
Amalia is a pioneering Latina entrepreneur who propels nationwide cultural transformation through her company’s corporate initiatives.
NAWBO chapter excellence was also celebrated, including the 2024 NAWBO Chapter of the Year, NAWBO Charlotte. This top winning chapter, which joined NAWBO in 1999, is the only organization specially designed to serve, support and strengthen the 115,000 women-owned businesses in the greater Charlotte, North Carolina metropolitan area through education, resources, connections and advocacy programs.
NAWBO Days marked the official start of the countdown to the organization’s milestone 50th anniversary in 2025, which will be marked with one epic event next summer. NAWBO was founded in 1975 as the only bi-partisan business advocacy organization for women entrepreneurs and has worked year after year and decade after decade to change the women’s business landscape for the better. Still, there’s more work to do.
Save the date—June 5-8, 2025 at Washington D.C.’s iconic Omni Shoreham—and join women business owners from across the U.S. and around the world! Watch for exciting announcements and registration to open soon at nawbo.org/wbc2025savethedate. Also, learn more about NAWBO by visiting nawbo.org.
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