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Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship to Host 4th Women Entrepreneurship Week

Global initiative to be held in 13 countries and 18 states

Posted in: Business

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Montclair State University’s Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship is at the forefront of an international movement that is providing women business owners the platform and tools to succeed in today’s global marketplace.

Set against the theme of “Women Changing the World,” the fourth annual Women Entrepreneurship Week on October 18 and 19 will feature two days of industry-leading keynote speakers, networking sessions and panel discussions with inspiring women entrepreneurs and C-suite executives on the Montclair State University campus.

“Research often cites a lack of female role models in startups as one reason women are under-represented as entrepreneurs,” says Dennis Bone, director of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship. “Women Entrepreneurship Week strives to provide events all over the world that will connect successful female founders with college-age students so the students can see and hear, firsthand, from role models.”

Highlights of the two-day program include:

  • Montclair Film Festival co-creator Evelyn McGee Colbert will be interviewed in a fireside chat titled “Montclair Film: An Artful Entrepreneurial Journey.” A panel, “From Kitchen Table to CEO,” featuring women entrepreneurs who started a business from scratch, will include KUDZOO co-founder and CEO Logan Cohen; Mented Cosmetics Founder KJ Miller; Runway of Dreams Foundation Founder and President Mindy Scheier; Salon Tea owner Tracy Stern; and artist, designer and entrepreneur Consuelo Vanderbilt Costin.
  • “Entrepreneurship in the C-Suite” will address how women executives can be entrepreneurial within a large organization, and will feature Inc. Editor-at-Large Kimberly Weisul as moderator and panelists Verizon VP of Government Affairs for Tri-State Region Leecia Eve, RWJ Barnabas Executive VP and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Michellene Davis, New Jersey Business & Industry Association President Michele Siekerka and Kings Supermarkets CEO Judy Spires.
  • “Social Entrepreneurs Changing the World,” will include a panel of social entrepreneurs and a keynote address from Rising Tide Capital Founder Alfa Demmellash. Panelists for the discussion, will include Pre-Health Dreamers creator Denisse Rojas Marquez, Shine Global founder and Emmy-winning filmmaker Susan MacLaury, and Leadership for Educational Equity’s Laurel Dumont. Entrepreneur Media Managing Editor Linda Lacina, will serve as the program’s moderator.

“Women Entrepreneurship Week has grown so quickly because we keep the program decentralized, so any nonprofit can participate – whether it’s a research university in New Jersey with more than 20,000 students, or a network of women artisans meeting in Karachi,” says Sharon Waters, the program manager of the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship.

Created in 2014, Women Entrepreneurship Week has evolved into an international movement since its inception, with programs set to be held in 13 countries, 18 states and 24 New Jersey colleges, universities and nonprofit organizations.

“Women Entrepreneurship Week is a way to shine a light on the importance of women entrepreneurs around the globe,” says Waters. “We are surprised how quickly this has grown, but it shows the high interest, worldwide, in honoring female founders.”

All Women Entrepreneurship Week events at Montclair State University are free and open to the public. For a detailed schedule or to register for the Women Entrepreneurship Week Conference on October 18, visit bit.ly/Oct18WEW. To register for the Social Entrepreneurs Changing the World panel discussion on October 19, visit bit.ly/Oct19WEW.