When women succeed, communities succeed. A group of eight visitors from Bahrain, Belize, Burma, El Salvador, Gambia, Kazakhstan, Slovenia, and Sudan explored this topic in northwest Florida through an International Visitor Leadership Program project titled Women in Entrepreneurship.
For their first meeting, they met Marny Needle who spoke about IMPACT 100, a non-profit organization whose members each contribute $1,000 annually in support of five fields: arts and culture, environment, recreation and preservation, education, and family health and wellness. Pensacola City Councilmember Sherri Myers next highlighted the area’s entrepreneurial climate and policies providing support to entrepreneurs and also presented each visitor with honorary citizenship to the city.
Exploration continued with a meeting and awe-inspiring farm visit with Escambia Extension Service Director Nick Simmons who provided an overview of their educational programs focused on agriculture, marine sciences, horticulture, water quality, and windstorm protection with an emphasis on the services offered to women business owners.
A site visit at Co:Lab Pensacola with Director of Entrepreneurial Development Kelly Reeser explored the impact of a business incubator and opened discussion on the support provided to entrepreneurs and small businesses while a meeting with Mary Guiterrez, the founder of Earth Ethics, focused on a nonprofit entrepreneurial effort.
A series of meetings focused on the challenges and opportunities facing small business. Ann Regan and Denise Ables of the Pensacola Women’s Alliance discussed the role it plays in supporting members’ businesses, its membership model, and the types of educational programs that have been most successful. A site visit to The Gathering Awareness and Book Center provided the opportunity to talk with small business owner Georgia Blackmon as did time at Emerald Coast Segway Tours with owner Nic Shuck. A meeting with Director of Lending Percy Goodman of Community Enterprise Investments underscored the promotion of economic revitalization and community development in rural and urban environments through microloan programs for startup businesses.
A membership reception complimented the project as did a dolphin cruise and dinners in the homes of John Toole, Jena Melançon, and Basil and Liz Yelverton.
The Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council thanks everyone who contributed to the efforts of this project. When women succeed, communities succeed, and when exchanges such as Women in Entrepreneurship come to northwest Florida, we are all the better for it.
