Who We Are

What We Do

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

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.

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.

 

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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)

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

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

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

Arabel Alva Rosales 1
President
AAR Enterprises

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. 

 BP America, Inc.  

Bank of America Charitable Foundation  

Citibank, FSB  

Citigroup Foundation  

McCormick Foundation  

The Partnership for New Communities  

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  

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

United Parcel Service (UPS)  

The University of Chicago  

The University of Chicago Medical Center  

The University of Illinois at Chicago  

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  

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Contact WBDC

MAIN OFFICE – DOWNTOWN CHICAGO

8 South Michigan Avenue
4^th Floor
Chicago, IL 60603

OFFICE HOURS: