About WBDC

 
  
 
 
"I have met most of the staff of the WBDC and have been greatly impressed by their commitment, knowledge, and direction in helping women in business achieve the success they deserve and are capable of"
Diane MacWilliams, Quicksilver, Inc.
 
 
 
        

  • Who We Are
  • What We Do
  • Goals
  • Staff
  • Board of Directors
  • Sponsors & Partners
  • Contact WBDC

Who We Are

The Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) is the oldest, largest, most comprehensive, and successful women’s business assistance center in the United States. We're nationally and internationally recognized for our responsive, innovative, and effective programs and advocacy efforts. We deliver business services and financial assistance to empower women towards entrepreneurship and economic self-sufficiency..  Since our founding in 1986, we've grown from a two-person operation to a national leader in women’s economic development with a budget of $2.2 million. Our operation has grown to a staff of 24 full-time employees and consultants, a roster of expert trainers, industry-specific advisory boards, and a powerful Board of Directors comprised of Chicago women considered leaders in their fields.
 
Over the years, we've assisted more than 55,000 women in the greater Chicago area, helped establish 14 additional women’s business assistance centers in six states in the U.S., and continue to be credited for  programs and policies that impact women’s economic development across the nation and globally.

What We Do

Now in our third decade, the WBDC serves diverse entrepreneurs at all stages of development through the following programs and services:

♀ Targeted entrepreneurial training in workshops and seminars
♀ Industry-specific programs
♀ Multicultural Outreach Programs
♀ Professional business counseling
♀ Financial assistance
♀ Women's Business Enterprise (WBE) certification
♀ Procurement and business opportunity assistance
♀ Advocacy on women’s business ownership and economic development
♀ Regional and national events and conferences
♀ Access to information and resources covering all aspects of business ownership.

Please note: all of the above are available on a non-discriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities can be arranged if requested at least two weeks in advance.

TDD number for the WBDC is
1-800-526-0844 (TDD only) or
1-800-526-0857 (operated assisted)

Goals

The goals of the Women’s Business Development Center are to:

♀ Accelerate the rate of growth of women’s business and microenterprise ownership
♀ Increase the economic impact of women-owned businesses on families and communities
♀ Build awareness of business ownership as a viable means of economic self-sufficiency, and
♀ Stimulate public policy and system changes which support and strengthen women’s economic impact

Staff

The Women's Business Development Center management and staff are unequaled in expertise, experience, and commitment to the development of women's economic self-sufficiency through business ownership.  Key management and staff include:

Leadership

Hedy Ratner, Co-president and founder, brings over 30 years of leadership in the women's community including many national and local awards for her visionary approach to women's economic development.  She is unequaled in her advocacy on behalf of women business owners:  she is a presidential appointee to the National Women's Business Council; a gubernatorial appointee to the Illinois Women's Business Ownership Council and the newly formed Governor's Commission on the Status of Women.  She is a board member of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and a founding board member of the Alliance of Minority and Female Contractors Association; board member of many affirmative action advisory council and advisory council member of the Federation of Women contractors, the local National Association of Women Business Owners.  
 

Carol Dougal, Co-president and founder
, brings over 30 years of leadership in the women's business development and employment and training community.   Dougal is a creative leader whose present work includes executive committee membership of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council, developing the first national Women's Business Enterprise certification program.  She brings experience in employment and training issues to the WBDC, especially relevant in launching a program to educate women business owners on issues regarding hiring women who are moving from welfare to work. 
  


Mary Ann Angle
is Vice President of Administration and also serves as Director of the Small Business Development Center and manager of government supported grants and programs.  MaryAnn has extensive previous experience in managing and directing government grants in employment training and business development for the City of Chicago, State of Illinois, and Cook County.



Business Counselors and Trainers

Debra Minor-Harvey
serves as a consultant to the WBDC’s Child Care Business Program, providing business development support to its child care entrepreneurs.  For over 25 years she has been active in the non-profit community serving on the boards of various advocacy and human services organizations and as an executive director.  She has contributed to the development of several local non-profits.  A former educator and college administrator, Ms. Minor-Harvey elected to become an entrepreneur in 1989 when she founded The Right Source, Inc a consulting group which offers project management, instructional design and training support to non-profit, public, and private entities.
 



Heather Parish
is a contracted business counselor.  She is an experienced trainer and counselor in microenterprise and brings more than a decade of experience including a background in community and economic development


Teresa Prim
is a WBDC finance counselor and management consultant.  She assists aspiring and established entrepreneurs in issues of business financing, including savings and budgeting, cash flow projections, profit and loss statements, and the creation of a business plan.  Teresa is committed to increasing WBDC's effectiveness with minority and low-income entrepreneurs.  She is expert in many facets of business development including the child care industry, the laundromat industry, loan packaging, real estate transactions, business plan development, and community development.  Teresa holds a Masters degree in Community Economic Development from Hampshire College.


Sylvia Wynn
is a contracted business consultant with the WBDC. She provides business operations and marketing counseling to established, emerging and start-up business owners.  Sylvia is co-founder of SJW Enterprises, a marketing and marketing research consulting company which assists Fortune 500 corporations in marketing strategies.  She has been associated with the WBDC since 1991. 



Bilingual Training & Counseling /Latina Program
 
Maria Lopez serves as a WBDC Bilingual (Spanish) Business Counselor and manages the Latina Business Program.  Maria provides bilingual entrepreneurial training, counseling and computer classes for entrepreneurs and child care providers.  Prior to joining the WBDC, Maria worked for LaSalle National Bank for 13 years in the areas of Business Transformation, Corporate Development and Acquisition, Corporate Capital, and Treasury Operations.  She was born in Mexico City, Mexico and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 6.  Maria received a B.S. from DePaul University with a comprehensive major in Finance.
 
 
Entrepreneurial Training and Counseling
 
Meg Herman, Director, Entrepreneurial Services, joined WBDC in 2008. In this capacity she connects clients with our counseling and training services, plans new learning opportunities and outreaches to affiliate organizations to let emerging and established business know about WBDC services. Prior to joining, she maintained a successful professional coaching and consulting practice for over 10 years with Managing Horizons, LLC, where she was founding partner.  Meg designed and facilitated adult learning opportunities for profit and non-profit organizations for over 30 years, including staff and board retreats, adult learning strategies, diversity training and organization development, in order to improve business results and quality of life.  Meg’s coaching clients come to her for goal setting, organizational and personal performance improvement, and holding themselves accountable to their plans. Meg holds a Masters in Social Work from Jane Addams College, University of Illinois, and is a Professionally Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation, with training from Coach University and the Coaches Training Institute.  She has a Certificate in Non-Profit Management from the University of Illinois.


Child Care Business & Retail/Franchise Program

Elizabeth Gardner leads the WBDC’s Child Care Business Program and Retail/Franchise Initiative.  She also serves as the Fund Administrator for the CCBP’s microloan fund.  Ms Gardner brings over 10 years of experience in marketing and business development with a special emphasizes on small business.


Finance Program

 Erica King is the newest addition to the WBDC team, joining the Center in August 2008 as a Finance Specialist.  With over nine years of commercial banking, business banking and real estate development, Erica is responsible for loan packaging, building and maintaining relationships with financial institutions, and assisting women business owners in their quest to access capital.  Prior to joining the WBDC Erica was employed with Park National Bank, where she successfully managed a $30 million dollar business banking portfolio.  Equipped with a B.S. in Finance from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Erica has the education and experience to continue growing the WBDC’s Finance Program.

Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) and Established Business Program

Kim Casey is the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) Consultant to the Women’s Business Development Center. Kim assists certified women business owners and other small business owners to secure contracts and subcontracts with corporate and government buyers and links suppliers with buyers through the WBDC Corporate Connections program. Kim also works with corporations and their supplier diversity initiatives to advocate for and build relationships with WBEs.  She holds a B.A. in Political Science and African American Studies from Purdue University.


 
 
 
Kasia Staszel is Director of the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) at the WBDC. She brings with her a background in business development, marketing, consulting and training. Kasia is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration – Entrepreneurship and had spent a year of her studies at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration in Vienna, Austria. Through her involvement with AIESEC, the world's largest non-profit student organization, she was able to work with non-profit organizations in both Cairo, Egypt and Bangkok, Thailand. Most recently, she had started her own consulting business aimed at helping clients develop a clear direction in the area of market expansion. In her role at the WBDC, Kasia assists small businesses in obtaining contracting and subcontracting opportunities with the government, counsels on bid/proposal preparation and submission, and assists in obtaining various government certifications. Kasia is also fluent in Polish.
 


WBE Certification Department
 
Debbi L. Lyall is Certification Director at the WBDC. Debbi has 12 years of purchasing experience in both the public and private sectors (Chicago Park District and Bank One/First Chicago). In her role at the WBDC, Debbi assists small businesses in accessing contracting/subcontracting opportunities, counseling on bid/proposal preparation and submission, and assistance on all certifications.
 
_____________________________
 
Administration
Janice Bailey, Bookkeeper
Jennifer Carpenter, Client Database Administrator
Richard Henderson, Facilities Assistant
Josefina Ocampo, Receptionist/Training Assistant
Rupert Serrano, Media Data Administrator
Joyce Spain, Bookkeeper
Virginia Uqdah, Office Manager
 
Technology
Ellenie Girma, Network Administrator/website Manager 
 
Certification
Deon Crayton, Certification Program Manager
Kelly Hinman, Certification Specialist 
Peggy Smith,  Certification Specialist
Cori Washington, Certification Specialist
 
Marketing and External Relations
Mia Delano, External Relations Director
 
Special Projects
Danae Kovac, Special Projects Coordinator
 
Resource Development
Tara Franey, Resource Development Director
 
WBDC Minnesota
Natasha Fedorova, WBDC Minnesota

Board of Directors

 
Women’s Business Development Center is enormously grateful to its stellar Board of Directors for its advice, counsel and support.

 

2008-2009 WBDC BOARD OF DIRECTORS (as of May 2009)


Laurel G. Bellows 9
Principal
The Bellows Law Group P.C.

Linda Chaplik Harris 13
Vice Chair of the WBDC Board
Partner
Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP

Alison Chung 2
President
TeamWerks

Risa R. Davis 10
Area Manager, Commercial Banking Group
Citibank, Illinois

Emilia DiMenco 11
Executive Vice President, Business Banking
Harris Bank

Carol Dougal
Co-President
Women's Business Development Center

Martha Garza 8
Change Management Director
ComEd

Debra Jennings Johnson 14
Chairperson of WBDC Board
Director, Supplier Diversity
BP America

Norma J. Lauder 6
Audit Committee Chair of WBDC Board
Director, MS Tax Program
University of Illinois

Jeanne Mandoza 5
District Controller
United Parcel Services

Pam McDonough 4
Secretary/Treasurer of the WBDC Board
Chief Executive Officer
DeAngelo/McDonough Construction Management Company

Sandra Rand 3
 
Hedy M. Ratner
Co-President
Women's Business Development Center

Arabel Alva Rosales 1
President
AAR Enterprises

Shelley Stern 12
Central Region Citizenship Lead
Microsoft Corporation
 
Donna L. Westerman 7
Director Supplier Diversity and Social Responsibility
Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company

 

Ex Officio Board Members

Mellody Hobson
President
Ariel Capital Management, Inc.

Terry Savage
Financial Analyst
President, Terry Savage Productions, Ltd.

Sponsors & Partners

The Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S. SBA’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO); is a delegate agency of the City of Chicago, Department of Planning and Development; a grant recipient of Cook County, Department of Planning and Development; and a certifying partner of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC).  As a member of the Illinois Entrepreneurship Network, the WBDC is an Illinois Small Business Development Center and an Illinois Procurement Technical Assistance Center funded in part through a cooperative agreement with The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the U.S. Department of Defense. The WBDC is also a proud partner of many corporations, foundations and contributors who help make entrepreneurial dreams a reality. 

 MARQUEE CONTRIBUTORS 
 
($40,000 +)

 BP America, Inc.  

Bank of America Charitable Foundation  

Citibank, FSB  

Citigroup Foundation  

McCormick Foundation  

The Partnership for New Communities  

Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
 

PREMIER CONTRIBUTORS 
($25,000 +)  

AT&T  

AT&T Foundation  

CME Trust  

Charter One Bank   

ComEd  

Edward M. Marx Foundation  

Grand Victoria Foundation  

Harris N.A.  

Health Care Service Corporation/BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois  

Hewlett–Packard Company  

JPMorgan Chase Foundation  

Leo Guthman Fund  

M&I Foundation, Inc.  

Merrill Lynch  

Microsoft Corp.  

Motorola, Inc.  

OfficeMax  

OPEN from American Express®  

Sara Lee Foundation  

Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust  

Taproot Foundation  

U.S. Department of Energy  

United Airlines  

Walgreen Co  

MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS
($10,000 – $24,999)

Aetna Foundation  

Avon Products, Inc.  

CDW  

CNA Foundation  

Charlotte R. Schmidlapp Fund, Fifth Third Bank, Trustee  

Dominick’s Finer Foods  

Ernst & Young LLP  

Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.  

Futura Marketing, Inc.  

HSBC–North America   

Integrys Energy Group   

J&J Exhibitors Service, Inc.  

Jewish Women’s Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago  

Kayhan International   

Kraft Foods  

Lurie Besikof Lapidus & Company, LLP  

Macquaire Capital USA Inc.  

Macy’s Foundation  

National City Bank  

Northern Trust  

Prudential  

RSM McGladrey, Inc.  

Smead Manufacturing Company

Target Corporation 
 
Trench–It, Inc.  

United Parcel Service (UPS)  

The University of Chicago  

The University of Chicago Medical Center  

The University of Illinois at Chicago  

W.W. Grainger, Inc.  

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT 
 
City of Chicago, Department of Aviation

City of Chicago, Department of Business Affairs and Licensing

City of Chicago, Department of Planning and Development  

Cook County, Department of Planning and Development  

City of Chicago, Department of Procurement Services  

The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Illinois Entrepreneurship  Network  

U.S. Small Business Administration  

U.S. Small Business Administration, Office of Women’s Business Ownership
 

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Contact WBDC

MAIN OFFICE – DOWNTOWN CHICAGO

8 South Michigan Avenue
4th Floor
Chicago, IL 60603

(312) 853-3477 -  General Number
(312) 853-0145 -  Fax
wbdc@wbdc.org -  E-Mail

TDD number for the WBDC is
1-800-526-0844 (TDD only) or
1-800-526-0857 (operated assisted)

OFFICE HOURS:

Monday – Friday
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
________________
 
 
Asian Women’s Business Program
Danae Kovac x. 47 or dkovac@wbdc.org
 
Latina Business Program
Maria Lopez x. 38 or mlopez@wbdc.org
 
WBE Certification
Deon Crayton x. 39 or dcrayton@wbdc.org
 
Child Care and Retail Business Development
Elizabeth Gardner x, 59 or egardner@wbdc.org
 
Entrepreneurial Woman’s Conference
Mia Delano x. 45 or mdelano@wbdc.org
 
Finance and Loan information
Erica King x. 56 or eking@wbdc.org
Teresa Prim x. 42 or tprim@wbdc.org
 
General information
Front Desk  x. 0 or wbdc@wbdc.org
 
General information in Spanish
Maria Lopez x. 38 or mlopez@wbdc.org
 
Corporate Partners
Mia Delano x. 45 or mdelano@wbdc.org
 
Sponsorships and Contributions
Tara Franey x. 21 or tfraney@wbdc.org
 
Website Questions
Ellenie Girma x. 54 or egirma@wbdc.org
 
Entrepreneurial Training and Counseling For Business Development and Expansion
Meg Herman x. 13 or mherman@wbdc.org
 
Starting a Business
Sylvia Wynn x. 41 or swynn@wbdc.org
 
Procurement Technical Assistance information
Kasia Staszel x. 53 or kstaszel@wbdc.org
Kim Casey x. 43 or kcasey@wbdc.org