We’re celebrating Women’s History Month featuring Women Entrepreneur Program Leaders. All year long the VWEC will work to live its theme of #WomenHelpingWomen, and this event is designed to ensure every woman entrepreneur seeking to start, grow, or expand her business has access to the resources she needs to succeed.
Join our outstanding line-up of panelists Donna Henry, Business Resource Specialist and lead for the Women’s Enterprise Program at WiNGS; Tracy Irby, Director, Center for Women Entrepreneurs Jane Nelson Institute for Women’s Leadership; Nataly Mojica, Business Advisor, DFW Women’s Business Center, LiftFund; moderated by our own VR Small, Founder/CEO, VWEC.
VWEC 2021 Theme: Women Helping Women
To support our Women Helping Women theme, we have launched a daily social media engagement campaign where you can post your business, share a tip, or help another woman entrepreneur conquer a business challenge. This strategy is designed to move us beyond just sharing information to getting to know each, our businesses, and our areas of expertise, so we can have more B2B opportunities.
Start connecting Facebook Live monthly for:
Managing Mondays-First Mondays
Technology Tuesdays-2nd Tuesdays
Wellness Wednesdays-3rd Wednesdays
Trending Thursdays-4th Thursdays &
Financial First Fridays-5th Fridays.
Our 2021 Format includes the following:
11:00AM - 11:05AM - Welcome & Opening Remarks
11:05AM - 11:15AM - Speed Networking with a Twist
11:15AM - 11:20AM - $30 for the Best 30 Second Business Pitch.
11:20AM - 11:30AM - Wellness Wednesday -is now integrated into each monthly event to remind everyone that our health is the foundation of our wealth. Get ready for a series of engaging activities and conversations. Our featured wellness consultant for Women’s History Month is Masako Mai, Owner, Professional Development Coach, Masako Mai Training.
Masako Mai is currently in the process of experiencing motherhood. She has diversified Masako Mai Training, LLC into Masako Mai Training, Healing Through Exercise; Hit Like A Girl Publishing; and Mommy, Mommy2Be & Me where she is a Personal Development Coach utilizing journalism and cognitive skills with health and wellness training to reach and assist her audience/clients to end stress and burnout by motivating, empowering, nurturing, teaching, optimizing, and reinforcing.
Masako is Executive Producer and Creator of Hit Like A Girl with Masako Mai; Freelance Journalist; Healer and Fitness Expert in Personal Development; Motivational Speaker; author of How I Met Jesus; owner of Masako Mai Training, LLC. Earlier on took up a career in boxing, where in record time became the Women’s International Welterweight Boxing Champion. Inspired to empower others, she obtained certifications in personal development coaching, health and wellness, and certificate in ministry where she helps individuals, families and couples create life balance as they pursue healthy lifestyles, happiness, and personal success. Additionally, she joined the Armed Forces where she became an Intelligence Analyst and continues to play a dynamic role in leading team efforts to preserve the integrity of her home country.
Masako graduated from Trinity College with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics; Cochise College with Intelligence Operations; Kim Dawson Conservatory with Film, Theatre & Dramatic Arts; San Diego College Certificate of Ministry.
11:35AM - 11:45PM - Introductions Partners, Sponsors & Keynote Speaker - This month our featured partner and event Co-Host is Stephanie Broughton, Minority/Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Coordinator, Dallas Independent School District, Dallas Education Center. Get connected to the resources you need to succeed with a brief presentation from partners and sponsors supporting this and other VWEC events.
Meet Our Co-Host:
Stephanie Broughton
Stephanie Broughton is an advocate for increasing the economic inclusion of minority and women businesses as an M/WBE Coordinator she is dedicated to proactively helping minority and women owned business owners navigate through the process of how to successfully do business. Stephanie has a strong background in managing educational programs in K-12 and Higher Education and extensive experience in educational and business consulting, marketing, training and recruiting. Serving as a liaison, Stephanie collaborates with business owners, subcontractors, and internal and external customers to ensure compliance of M/WBE contract participation.
11:45PM - 12:00PM - Announcement 2nd Quarter Partnership
12:00PM - 12:45PM - Women Entrepreneur Program Leaders - Panel Discussion
Meet Our Panelists:
Donna Henry
Donna Henry is currently the Business Resource Specialist and leads the Women’s Enterprise Program at WiNGS. The Women’s Enterprise Program provides a comprehensive development program for hopeful entrepreneurs. This microenterprise program helps women design, launch, and grow their businesses.
Ms. Henry has extensive experience in developing, managing, and delivering, entrepreneur and personal finance programs. She has over 25 years of Accounting and Finance experience as well as small business ownership. Donna grew up in a family- owned businesses and was the owner of Padgett Business Services, a small business accounting consulting service. At Padgett, she helped she prepared monthly financial statement and helped small business owners reach their financial goals.
Ms. Henry has a passion for entrepreneurship and is an advocate for bridging the racial wealth gap through entrepreneur development and real estate ownership. She has received a master’s degree in Public Leadership at the University of North Texas, Dallas and will use her voice through her education and expertise to speak for the underserved business community. Her favorite saying is “How you do anything is how you do everything”.
Tracy Irby
Tracy joined the CWE as their first Small Business Advisor after 6 years advising with the SBDC network. She has been an entrepreneur for 25-plus years having owned one of the first Sears hometown dealer stores, a gym, a bounce house rental business, an online self-defense business, in addition to being a licensed insurance agent and property investor.
She has an BBA & MBA in marketing and from Texas A&M University-Commerce. She is a graduate of the OU Economic Development Institute and holds an Economic Development Finance Certification from the National Development Council.
Nataly Mojica
Nataly Mojica serves as a Business Advisor with the LiftFund’s DFW Women’s Business Center. Through her work, Nataly guides and encourages small business owners and entrepreneurs by providing the knowledge and resources needed to start and grow a business. Prior to her work with LiftFund, Nataly worked within the CDFI lending space as a Loan Officer and served as a Community Economic Development Volunteer with Peace Corps Colombia working in rural communities to promote entrepreneurship and financial literacy. Nataly is a mother and is currently pursuing her MBA at UNT Dallas. As a born and raised Dallasite, Nataly advocates for small businesses and purposefully uses her platform to serve, grow, and empower the small business ecosystem in her community.
VR Small - Moderator
VR Small, is the founder and chief executive officer for the Veteran Women’s Enterprise Center (VWEC), a national initiative launched in southern Dallas. VR testified for the original House Bill to make June 12, Women Veterans Day in Texas. This year, VR led the launched of the first annual statewide Women Veterans Day Pitch Competition highlighting the innovations and economic impact of current/potential women veteran entrepreneurs.
VR serves on the Advisory Committee for TWU’s Center for Women Entrepreneurs and is a fellow of SMU’s Hunt Institute for Engineering and Humanity—Inclusive Economy, Dallas Public Voices, the Bush Institute Stand-to-Veteran Leadership Program and is featured in Dallas Innovates: The Future 50 North Texans. VR is the SBA’s DFW District 2020 Veterans Small Business Advocate of the Year and serves on the 30th Congressional District Veteran Advisory Committee and supports the efforts of various local veteran coalitions and service organizations. Ms. Small chaired the Veteran Business Subcommittee for the City of Dallas, Office of Business Diversity and was the 2017 VP for Veteran Affairs with SCORE Dallas.
In alignment with the VWEC’s mission, VR just completed phase one of the Moments That Matter Research Project exclusively focused on women veteran owned businesses in the DFW metroplex with the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank and has currently launched phase two with SMU’s Hunt Institute, Global Development Lab to conduct a series of national focus groups.
Most importantly, VR is a Navy Veteran, proud stepdaughter, and sister to U.S. Army Retired Vietnam & Iraq Veterans, respectively. Living her personal slogan “Changing the way we see the world and do business,” VR is a motivational speakers, moderator, educator and advocate specifically for women veteran as well as women and small businesses in general—driving social and economic change across our nation.
With more than twenty years in senior management, VR has committed most of her career to serving and effectively connecting others. She completed Boardroom Bound’s Pipeline Seminar for corporate board placement and was a Team Lead for their NYC Friends Program. She is also a proud HBCU alumna of Lincoln University’s Master of Human Services.