College of Charleston hosts second annual Women of Color Entrepreneurship Forum
November 19, 2020
The College of Charleston School of Business Center for Entrepreneurship and About Her Business will host the second annual Women of Color Entrepreneurship Forum on Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom.
According to the 2019 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report by American Express, women of color (WOC) entrepreneurs employed 2.3 million people, generated $422.5 billion in revenue and were the fastest-growing group of business owners last year.
The College will welcome panelists from academia, the entrepreneurial community and the Charleston area to discuss growing the number of WOC entrepreneurs through education, ecosystems, inclusion and policy in observance of Global Entrepreneurship Week — an international week-long celebration of business innovation.
The virtual event will include networking, panel discussions and a gender equality pitch competition where six CofC student-teams will be vying for a $1,000 prize.
Panelists include:
- Sedeyia Bellamy — Community Development Loan Officer, SC Community Loan Fund
- Dorothea Bernique — Executive Director, Increasing H.O.P.E. Financial Training Center and Organizer of the Charleston-area 1 Million Cups events
- Tozaria Green — Current CofC student and prospective entrepreneur
- Monique Hill — Founder, About Her Business, LLC
- Amber Johnson — Equity, Inclusion and Racial Conciliation Manager, City of Charleston
- Norris Krueger, Ph.D. — ESHIP Ecosystem Champion, Kauffman Foundation
- Joanna Lau — Founder and CEO, Lau Technologies and School of Business Board of Governors member
- Diana Saillant — Founder and CEO, Saillant Language Consulting, board member of the YWCA, Greater Charleston and board member of the CofC Department of Hispanic Studies
- Audrey Whetsell — Co-Founder, Resource Partners, LLC
College of Charleston alumnae Johnny Caldwell ’08 and Taneka Reaves ‘11 — better known collectively as Cocktail Bandits — will also take part in the networking portion of the event.
The second annual Women of Color Entrepreneurship Forum is free and open to the public. The event will take place via Zoom at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 19. Register to attend at bit.ly./woceforum.
