Alexandria, VA – The Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC) is proud to announce the award winners, who were recognized last week at AWBC’s 2017 Women’s Business Centers Leadership Conference for their outstanding accomplishments in volunteerism and advocacy on behalf of women’s business centers and women entrepreneurs. The “Volunteer Award” was presented to Amy Fletcher of Women’s Economic Ventures (California), Julann Jatczak of WWBIC (Wisconsin), and Nancy McLain of WESST (New Mexico). The “Advocacy Award” was presented to Monica Braun of REAP WBC (Nebraska), Emily Susanin Kessinger of Iowa WBC, and Jennifer Sporzynski of WBC at CEI Maine.

“Amy, Julann, Nancy, Monica, Emily, and Jennifer exemplify the very best that the women’s business center program has to offer,” said AWBC CEO Antonella Pianalto. “Their commitments to the program through volunteerism and advocacy are yet another reminder of the ongoing contribution of the leaders of Women’s Business Centers to women’s entrepreneurship. We are so proud to award them this year and to honor their efforts.”

The Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC) annual Women’s Business Centers Leadership Conference took place from September 12th to 14th in Alexandria, Virginia and Washington D.C. The event included keynote speeches from SBA Administrator Linda McMahon, Rep. Stephanie Murphy (FL-7), Rep. Steven Knight (CA-25) and numerous women business leaders and entrepreneurs. In addition to three days of seminars, Women’s Business Center (WBC) leaders visited Capitol Hill to meet with their respective Members of Congress and to talk about the profound impact that WBCs are having on the local economy in each district.

About AWBC: The AWBC (www.awbc.org) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1998 to support the national network of Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) with programming and advocacy. Each year, our members leverage WBC grants to operate more than 150 locations throughout the United States. WBCs have nearly 30 years of success in providing business training, counseling, mentoring, and access to capital to over 145,000 women entrepreneurs each year. The WBC program is a public-private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration.