The National Association of Women Business Owners is the voice of more than 10 million women-owned businesses in the United States. Since 1975, NAWBO has helped women grow their businesses by sharing resources and providing a collective viewpoint to help shape economic and public policy. It is the only dues-based national organization representing the interests of all women entrepreneurs across all industries.
NAWBO started as a small group of women in the Washington, D.C. area who met to trade information about federal contracts, bank credit, and other business issues. Every few weeks, additional women began attending the meetings. It soon became clear that there was a great demand for a formal organization devoted to helping women business owners; so NAWBO was created.
Today the organization features chapters in almost every metropolitan area in the United States, including New York City. NAWBO-NYC was founded in 1985 by a group of like-minded women who understood the need for an association that would support the growth of women-owned business in the metropolitan area. NAWBO-NYC’s goals are:
- To build lasting and supportive relationships among our members
- To help our members develop increasingly strong and successful businesses through education, networking, and mentoring
- To support the needs of emerging women business owners
- To build strategic alliances, coalitions, and affiliations for our members
- To impact public policy through active participation in the political process
- To encourage and develop leadership skills to move women business owners into positions of influence
NAWBO-NYC’s strength comes from the diversity of its membership—women from all backgrounds, regardless of race, religion, age, sexual orientation, national origin, or disability. Membership is open to sole proprietors, partners, and corporate owners who have day-to-day management responsibility. Other types of memberships are available for those who wish to support NAWBO-NYC.
