By Keena Smith
Economic power is the transformative force that changes not only individual lives but entire communities. Women of color are the fastest-growing segment of business owners and wealth creators in the U.S. We aspire to build a legacy, yet we often face systemic barriers that prevent us from achieving our full potential. That’s where The Women’s Center for Economic Opportunity steps up.
WCEO, a Columbus-based economic mobility and research organization, announced this week it plans to expand its women’s wealth-building and business acceleration strategies locally through a partnership with the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky African American Chamber of Commerce (AAC). The center’s research arm will partner with the AAC to host a series of research activities for Black women. Women & Wealth, Building Our Future Now, a research-guided conversation, will honor our wealth-building experiences, shared in our own voices, to provide data that informs WCEO’s SMART program design and investment in local women of color.
“Our goal is to sharpen the data-informed tools that have driven results for women in Columbus since we launched in 2013 and share data to the local ecosystem through purposeful partnerships that improve the lives of women and their families” said Founder & CEO Keena M. Smith, a Cincinnati native and graduate of Walnut Hills High School. These proven strategies have helped thousands of women measurably improve their economic outcomes as business owners and career professionals and include comprehensive economic mobility frameworks for women of color and others.
“WCEO’s research and data-driven approach to serving our community mirror our own so we are excited about partnering”, said Eric Kearney, President and CEO of the chamber. “We expect to leverage the data to add great value to the experience of our chamber members”
The research launches on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at noon at the Chamber offices with an invitational lunch event. Our guest co-facilitator is Sheila Mixon, CEO of The SASH Effect and former Executive Director of Cincinnati WBEC-ORV, women’s business certification agency. For more information, call 614-344,1070 or email Victoria Murray at Victoria@WomensCEO.org or Zoe Carney at Zoe@African-AmericanChamber.com