NAWBO to host advocacy breakfast

The National Association of Women Business Owners, Buffalo-Niagara chapter, is part of a national network that represents more than 11 million women entrepreneurs across the U.S.

NAWBO Buffalo-Niagara takes to heart the advocacy principles on which NAWBO was founded more than 45 years ago. On Wednesday, April 20, from 8-9 a.m., NAWBO Buffalo-Niagara will host an advocacy breakfast at Hyatt Place, 5020 Main St., Snyder. The women business owners who comprise NAWBO Buffalo-Niagara will welcome area elected officials in order to share experiences and learn how their initiatives are designed to support women business owners across New York.

In addition, the group will feature an upcoming trip to Washington, D.C., for “Advocacy Days,” where NAWBO members from across the country gather to lobby Congress for legislation supportive of small and microbusinesses owned by women. Numerous NAWBO Buffalo-Niagara members will be in attendance at that two-day event on June 7-8.

“NAWBO was founded by women business owners who learned they couldn’t borrow money without a male co-signer,” said Sherrie Barr-Mack, chair of the local chapter’s advocacy committee sponsoring the April 20 event. “Buffalo’s own John LaFalce, then-chair of the House Small Business Committee, worked with NAWBO to design and promulgate H.R. 5050, the legislation that first made it unlawful for lenders to require co-signers on the basis of gender alone.”

Andrea Schillaci, Esq., the local chapter’s president, added, “We carry on the legacy of the brave entrepreneurs who made advocacy the center of their collective efforts. In Buffalo and across Western New York, women business owners help to employ tens of thousands of workers and support thousands of families. We count on our legislators to support women entrepreneurs who help fuel the economic engine of our region. We look forward to welcoming them to our event.”

NAWBO said it “propels women entrepreneurs into economic, social and political spheres of power worldwide. NAWBO seeks full participation in the organization by all business owners who support its mission to empower women entrepreneurs, regardless of race, religion, age, sexual orientation, national origin or disability. NAWBO’s goal is to effectively represent the full diversity of the women business owner community, and to expand access to leadership opportunities across the full spectrum of its membership.”