Educating women business owners and entrepreneurs worldwide on how to go global.
UPS, in partnership with Metro Chicago Exports & JPMorgan Chase, announced the 2016 Metro Chicago International X-port Challenge. Listen up all women entrepreneurs and business owners!
This export pitch contest starts with you simply telling UPS-Metro Chicago Exports-JPMorgan Chase how and why you want to grow your global business — and you could be the winner of $10,000 in free export shipping credits and a matching prize of $10,000 in grant dollars. And the beauty of this offer is that it only take a few minutes of your time to apply. Imagine all the new customers your business could reach worldwide with these prizes!
The top 10 applicants will be invited to a “Pitch Off” event at Chase Tower in downtown Chicago on Thursday, October 20, 2016. These 10 businesses will have an opportunity interact with an illustrious panel of expert judges.
Three winners will be selected based on their international appeal and execution strategy. Should you qualify as one of their top 10 finalists, you will be contacted for verification and with further Pitch-off event date and location details. You must be available to participate in the Pitch-Off event to be eligible to qualify as a finalist.
This event is open to small and medium-sized companies (men and women may apply) located in Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will counties.
Go here to apply: https://global.ups.com/x-portchallenge/?WT.mc_id=VAN701625 Note: Deadline is September 16th. Good luck! Let us know if you come out a winner!
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Note: Don’t miss our next WEGG webinar 8/24 on “Reach Multilingual Markets: Creating Content, Developing Effective Partnerships, and Utilizing Translation Technology,” and presented by expert Jennifer Murphy, Director of Marketing, Eriksen Translations, Inc. Register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8702241284561995012. Event is no charge but you must register in advance to attend.
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The Schwab Foundation recently announced that 31 individuals have been named its Social Entrepreneurs of the Year 2015 — an award that honors individuals who are pushing for progress on a variety of issues affecting underserved communities. The awardees will become part of the broader Schwab Foundation community of Social Entrepreneurs, which includes more than 300 outstanding social entrepreneurs from 60 countries.
Hilde Schwab, Co-Founder and Chairperson of the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship says:
“Social entrepreneurs are visionaries but are also realists, and are ultimately concerned with the practical implementation of scalable solutions.”
She goes on to say:
“The 31 outstanding social entrepreneurs we have selected into the Schwab Foundation community this year are designing transformative models in collaboration with government and business partners to generate truly inclusive growth. As such, social entrepreneurs represent an integral and dynamic community of the World Economic Forum.”
One awardee is Community Solutions which “helps communities become better problem solvers, so they can fix the expensive, badly designed systems that low income people must rely on every day.” (Source: Community Solutions). Ms. Rosanne Haggerty (pictured) is co-founder and CEO of Community Solutions and is on a mission to end homelessness and strengthen communities.
Congrats to the awardees and a big thank you to Schwab Foundation for recognizing innovative approaches to progress and the potential for global impact.
Read more: Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Announces Social Entrepreneurs of 2015
Screenshot courtesy: Schwab Foundation
It’s official! Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global (WEGG) has been launched and is committed to helping women-owned and women-led businesses increase their access to knowledge about exporting their products or services, grow their revenue, create jobs, and make an even more impactful contribution to their families and the economy.
Read the news (11/18/15): New Education-based Nonprofit to Help Women Business Owners Export
And be sure to sign up to receive information about our first webinar scheduled for Wednesday, January 6, 2016. We call these educational webinars WEGG Wednesdays and they will take place the first Wednesday of every month in 2016 with the goal to help you take your business to the next level of growth through exports.
We are thrilled, honored and humbled to make the prestigious Top 20 list of resources for women entrepreneurs in 2015.
Here’s what StarterPad said about Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global (WEGG):
As the name suggests, the mission behind Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global is to introduce women-owned businesses all over the world to the global opportunity. They want to empower every woman worldwide to go global. Originally started in 2008, the website …
Learn about the other great resources and sites mentioned for women entrepreneurs in the StarterPad list: 20 Best Sites for Female Entrepreneurs in 2015
We’ll say it for you: We rock!
Illustration courtesy: StarterPad
In order to meet the needs of fast-growing women-led/owned business owners and entrepreneurs like yourself, we are changing the formal structure of WEGG and will announce more about it soon. It takes a village to accomplish great things in our world so I’d like to take a moment to introduce you to our new Board. With International Women’s Day today, this is great time to feel proud to be a woman and for WEGG to make this announcement. After all, the women of the world make it happen not just today, but everyday.
The following individuals have committed to building WEGG into an educational organization where every women business owner and entrepreneur can learn everything imaginable about how to take a business global — wherever she might be located.
Laurel Delaney
Laurel J. Delaney is founder and president of Chicago-based GlobeTrade.com, a management consulting company that helps entrepreneurs and small businesses go global. The United States Small Business Administration has recognized Ms. Delaney as a world-renowned global small business expert by naming her the Illinois Exporter of the Year. She is the author of … read more.
Laura Fairman
Laura Fairman is the Founder and Lead Designer of Blue Canvas, a web and graphic design consultancy. For 14 years Laura has enabled small and mid-size businesses to have confidence in all facets of their online and printed marketing. Laura is motivated by … read more.
Patti Ross
Patricia Ross is President and Founder of Patricia Ross & Associates, Inc., a consulting company that provides one-on-one coaching to individuals who are interested in building key business relationships and strengthening their leadership skills. She helps clients create and implement a strategy for successful career growth. Ms. Ross was formerly … read more.
Nancy Stachnik
While working her way through Mundelein College as a bank teller, Nancy discovered she had a knack for numbers. This led to a long and rewarding career as a community banker in Chicago. A seasoned veteran of the rollicking financial M&A … read more.
Kati Suominen
Dr. Kati Suominen is Founder and CEO of both the equity crowdfunding platform TradeUp Capital Fund and the trade research firm Nextrade Group, LLC. She is also Adjunct Professor at UCLA Anderson School of Management and Adjunct Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She previously served as Fellow … read more.
A big welcome to these new Board members, each of whom brings the kind of intellect, creativity, commitment and energy that WEGG needs to to grow in the future.
Photo courtesy: WEGG
Out with the Year of the Galloping Horse (that’s my year by the way), and in with the Year of the Sheep, timid, with new hopes, new dreams and new aspirations. What does the Year of the Sheep have in store for women? According to The Philippine Star:
• This is the year of womanpower, what with the southwest direction (signifying women) being lucky. The gentle loving hands that rock the cradle will surely rule the world. Female energy is at its peak, which may point to a woman ruling the presidential race in 2016 in a possible scenario of last-minute changes.
What else does the Year of the Sheep bring to all of us? Find out here.
Photo credit: Shawn Calhoun
Posted by: Laurel Delaney
The 2014 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, in its fifth year, will convene thousands of participants on November 19-21 in Marrakech, Morocco, and will highlight the impact of technology on modern entrepreneurship. The 2014 Summit takes place during Global Entrepreneurship Week, making it the largest of the thousands of entrepreneurship events taking place around the world that week.
Are you attending?
To learn more and to register, visit: Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2014 (Read the news.)
Photo courtesy: GES
Posted by: Laurel Delaney
Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. EIN/Tax ID #47-2956522.
