As ON ITS AXIS celebrates a productive Unity Week, we reflect on what the term ‘unity’ means. Unity is about togetherness, about not feeling divided. This year’s Unity Week, a partnership between the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) and the National Business Inclusion Consortium (NBIC), reflected the theme of uniting the nation’s leading business diversity organizations by focusing on education, awareness, and agility.
Unity Week Panel Opening Session: Impact of Women-Owned Businesses
Impactful takeaways came from the panel discussion on The Wells Fargo 2023 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses inaugural report.
Panelists Angela Dingle (WIPP), Geri Stengel (Ventureneer), Judith Goldkrand (Wells Fargo), and Julie Rothhouse (SynaVoice) shared opportunities for women to launch new businesses and grow their existing businesses with an eager audience in the “birthplace of America”, Philadelphia.
The report highlights the impact of gender, race, business size, industry, and geography and aims to explain the causes that underlie the patterns we see in women-owned businesses.
Thanks to the WIPP Education Institute partnering with Wells Fargo, Ventureneer, and CoreWoman, this research was shared during the panel with a full report available in January of 2024.
Angela Dingle, CEO of WIPP, and Shelley Iocona, CEO of ON ITS AXIS
One of the highlights of the week was the opportunity our Founder had to meet and discuss women’s entrepreneurship, access to capital, and equity with Angela Dingle, CEO of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP). Shelley had the opportunity to meet Angela during her attendance at the NGLCC International Business and Leadership Conference in Denver this past August.
During their conversation, Angela shared important points regarding the funding of women small business owners and the wide-ranging impact public policy is having on women’s opportunities for advancement. Angela graciously shared her time and ideas leaving our Founder inspired and motivated.
WIPP’s policy priorities for 2023 (shared directly from WIPP’s website, linked below):
- Create parity for WOSBs in federal contracting
- Increase access to capital for women-owned businesses
- Rethink workplace development
- Invest in infrastructure improvements
- Demystify global economics
- Ensure fair tax treatment for all businesses
Click here to learn more about 2023 WIPP Policy Priorities.
Kelly O’Connell EVP of ON ITS AXIS and CEO of Fairstream, Shelley Iocona, CEO of ON ITS AXIS