On Friday, Oct. 18, West Chester University will be hosting the Women Entrepreneurship Conference, writes Heather Grubola and Nydia Han for 6ABC.
The conference’s main goals are to uplift women business owners, helping them to find funding and successfully launch and manage their entrepreneurial ventures.
Yasmine Mustafa arrived in the United States at eight years old as a war refugee from Kuwait. She often felt at-risk as a woman employee, which is part of the reason she began her own company, Roar for Good, in 2014.
“Every company needs capital and that was really tough,” she said. “I don’t come from institutional wealth, so family and friends were not a pathway that was accessible to me.” Mustafa started off in a local incubator called Dream It, which helped start-ups with the initial funding. Roar for Good received $25,000 and three months of mentoring.
Women-owned businesses represent about 40 percent of all businesses in the U.S., employing approximately 12.2 million workers and generating $2.7 trillion in revenue.
“Only 2 percent of venture funding goes to female founders, which is really, really low, and women of color have even more difficult time in getting funding,” said Pattie Diggin of the Cottrell Entrepreneurship Center at West Chester University.
The Women’s Conference will teach female business owners how to get the capital they need.
Read more about women-owned businesses and the upcoming conference at 6ABC.
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