Star Bright
Awards program spotlights supporters of women business owners.
Women may finally be reaping the accolades they deserve in the
business world; however, those organizations that helped women get
where they are today still remain vastly underappreciated. North
Star, a new awards program offered by the National Association of
Women's Business Advocates (NAWBA), aims to change that.
"NAWBA recognizes there is an overwhelming commitment to
women's business development, and that's been demonstrated
by more than 300 service providers across the nation," says
Mollie Cole, immediate past president of NAWBA. "We also know
that their efforts are rarely acknowledged by economic development
agencies, corporate entities or the government."
The North Star Awards will be granted in four categories,
honoring women-boosting programs at the local, state and national
levels, as well as in the private sector. "We want
organizations to demonstrate a collaborative approach, to show
they're not doing this by themselves, that they've brought
together all the resources possible for this particular program or
project," says Cole.
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The North Star Awards, so named because, explains Cole,
"whenever we're lost, we can always look to the North Star
for guidance and direction," the program won't just pay
lip service to the winners. "We hope to provide the
[organizations] with cash awards so they can leverage that cash to
deliver more services to the women's business
community."
In the spirit of the nominees' contributions, Cole already
has high hopes that the North Star Awards will be not mere window
dressing but a springboard for future progress. "As people
start sending us word of their best programs, we can take that
information and combine it into a document of collaborative
approaches to women's business development," she explains.
"That way, people who are starting a new program
or attempting to fine-tune their current program can use this
document."
The judging panel consists of representatives from NAWBA,
business development companies, Entrepreneur magazine, and
other sponsors from the public and private sectors. Applications
are due by August 9; the awards will be presented at NAWBA's
fall conference in late October. Call (312) 814-7176 for more
information.
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