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“The future belongs to those who believe in the power of their dreams.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), former US First Lady and human rights activist.


Our Current Activities



Projects and Partnerships: what we are doing and with whom we are doing it

Here is a sampling of Womenable's recent projects and collaborations:

  • Womenable, American Express OPEN's research advisor on women's entrepreneurship issues, analyzed Census data on women-owned firms from the past 3 Census surveys, and wrote the American Express OPEN State of Women-Owned Businesses Report. This report contains 2011 estimates on the number and economic growth of women-owned firms nationally and at the state level, as well as industry trends and growth by firm size. The report is available at OPENforum.com/women.

  • Womenable will be working with American Express OPEN again in 2011, as we did in 2010, to learn more about the strategies, successes and challenges of women and men business owners who are active in selling there goods and services to US Federal government agencies. Learn more about the Victory in Procurement program HERE.

  • Womenable has conducted an annual issues and membership survey for the National Association of Women Business Owners. Results from the first of two issues-focused reports are available HERE.

  • Womenable is working with UNCTAD on a 6-country study focused on women and men small business owners and how they view, approach, and utilize innovation in their firms. The study is focused on analyzing gender differences, differences between developed and developing economies, and making policy and program recommendations.

  • In 2010 Womenable worked with American Express OPEN on a research initiative to understand more about the barriers and constraints that women and men small business owners face when entering into the US Federal procurement marketplace. This effort resulted in the publication of three reports. (See our Research Reports page for a link to those reports.)

  • Womenable worked with Booz Allen Hamilton as a gender expert, supporting their efforts to assess the support environment for women's enterprise development in Rwanda and Vietnam, and from that work developed a gender assessment tool that builds on the organization's BizCLIR assessment methodology.

  • During 2009 and 2010, Womenable consulted with Quantum Leaps, an NGO focused on accelerating women's entrepreneurship worldwide, on the development of a strategic framework for women's enterprise development in the U.S. Interest in this Roadmap to 2020 report has been so strong that efforts are now underway to conduct similar grassroots assessments in other countries.


Affiliations: our other 'contributions to the cause'

Here are other organizations we are involved with in the women's enterprise development movement:

  • Julie Weeks, President and CEO of Womenable, has been elected to a 3-year term on the national board of the Association of Women's Business Centers, and will serve as the 2011-2012 chair of the AWBC board.

  • Weeks joined the board of the Global Banking Alliance for Women for a two-year term of service.

  • Weeks serves on the advisory board of Enterprising Women magazine, and writes articles focused on international aspects of women's enterprise development on a regular basis. The magazine is now available online, which extends its reach to women business owners around the world.

  • Weeks also serves on the editorial advisory board of the International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, which publishes both academic and practitioner papers on issues related to women's enterprise development internationally.







Last Updated: July 25, 2011