Series of Nine Projects to Uncover Actionable Research on Issues Facing Women Business Owners

WASHINGTON – May 23, 2016 – The National Women’s Business Council (NWBC) today announced funding of up to $1 million for nine research projects focused on women and entrepreneurship. The funding announcement is the largest ever from NWBC and marks a more than double year over year funding increase.

NWBC, the government’s only independent voice for women entrepreneurs, will embark on nine separate research projects this year to uncover findings that will inform its recommendations to the President, Congress and the Small Business Administration.

The nine separate projects will gather insight on the following topics: the unique challenges and opportunities faced by Latina and Veteran women business owners; crowdfunding as a source of capital; social entrepreneurship; growth out of the small business designation; necessity as a driver for entrepreneurship; the development of new methodology to catalogue and fill the gaps left in the data on women business owners; and other miscellaneous topics of relevance to women, policymakers, influencers and other stakeholders.

“The Council is committed to improving the climate for women business owners, said Carla Harris, Chair of the National Women’s Business Council. We are thankful for the significant funding increase from Congress so we can continue our extensive research of the challenges and opportunities this community faces to continually improve the business environment for women.”

The funding announcement is another example of NWBC’s ongoing commitment to support women in business by producing actionable research on the most relevant issues facing aspiring and current women business owners and leaders.

NWBC seeks to uncover and address the unique barriers and challenges of women in pursuit of business through their research and engagement activities. In turn, the Council leverages the research as a springboard for action and policy shifts in their role as advisors to the President, Congress and the Small Business Administration.

More information on these nine projects can be found on the NWBC website. Interested parties can apply for any of the projects on the FedBizOpps website. The proposals for all nine projects are due on May 31, 2016.