Marsha Firestone

President and Founder Women Presidents’ Organization

A recognized expert on entrepreneurship, Dr. Marsha Firestone is President and Founder of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), a peer advisory group for women who own and lead multimillion dollar businesses.  Dr. Firestone started WPO in 1997 to help accelerate business growth, enhance competitiveness and promote economic security for women-owned and led companies through confidential and collaborative peer learning groups. She is currently serving her second term as a member of the National Women’s Business Council, a non-partisan federal advisory council that provides an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners.

Previously Dr. Firestone served as a Vice President of the American Woman’s Economic Development Corporation (AWED) and National Executive Director of Women’s American ORT. As Executive Director of The Women’s Economic Summit she led the development of a plan presented to Congress to accelerate the growth of women’s businesses.

Author of The WPO 50 Fastest Growing Women-Owned/Led Companies^™ Guide to Growth, Sponsored by American Express, she also wrote The Busy Woman’s Guide to Successful Self-Employment. Dr. Firestone has published research on adult learning theory in business and education journals.

She is a frequent guest speaker and has received numerous awards, including the outstanding alumnae of Newcomb College of Tulane University and the Enterprising Women Hall of Fame awards. She was also the recipient of the Committee of 200 Skills to Succeed Award and the WBENC Applause Award. She was an official U.S. representative to OECD in 2003 in Turkey, APEC Women’s Network in Vietnam in 2006 and to the National Women’s Business Council.