The Truth Staff
The Women of Toledo (WOT) recently established the Northwest Ohio Women’s Business Council (WBC) that was inspired by the #HERStory campaign honoring women entrepreneurs. Last week, the WBC announced the first Women’s Entrepreneurial Distinction Ovation Award (WEDO Award) program that will be held on May 4, from 4 to 7:30 p.m., at the Huntington Center.
The awards will help to achieve three goals for the WBC: 10 recognize excellence, 2) provide a better narrative on the identity and storytelling of diverse women-owned businesses and 3) increase the visibility and opportunity to close the area’s economic inequality.
“We want to highlight the stories and celebrate the role of women entrepreneurs in our community, particularly the impact on job growth and economic growth,” said Sena Friedman, a co-founder of the WBC. “When we start to celebrate and honor their roles and places in our economic development, we inspire other generations as well; it encourages them to follow their dreams and the community benefits … everybody wins.”
The WBC is now taking nominations for the five categories in which women will be honored. They are:
- Rising Star: A woman, age 25 years or younger, who has founded a successful business with promise for the future;
- Legend: A woman we celebrate for a lifetime of entrepreneurial achievement, community impact, and support of the success of others;
- Second Act: A woman who draws from a previous life and work experiences to find success as an entrepreneur;
- Trailblazer: An innovator, creator and leader, who has broken new ground as a woman entrepreneur;
- Thriver: A woman whose entrepreneurial leadership has grown and sustained a business, meeting increasingly higher levels of achievement in revenue, job creation and market share.
In observance of 2022 Women’s History Month and the #HerStory campaign honoring local women entrepreneurs, Women of Toledo (WOT) established the Northwest Ohio Women’s Business Council (WBC). WBC consists of a diverse group of women that are committed to promoting, supporting, and celebrating women’s entrepreneurship in our community. We celebrate their accomplishments and are excited to share their encouraging stories
With a vision that every Entrepreneur has an equitable opportunity and access to develop, launch, and grow a business that creates wealth for themselves, their families, and/or their community; one of the ways for improvement is to develop an award and/or recognition of excellence for diverse entrepreneurs and ecosystem leaders. For our Media Partner, we welcome your support with media coverage to create awareness of the WEDO Award program and a call for applications.