The Women’s Center for Economic Opportunity & Aspire Women’s Book of Business | Women’s Collective Newsletter | April 2025

Our Mission

We equip, elevate and empower socially and economically disadvantaged women to access the knowledge & resources they need to create generational wealth and a legacy of economic impact while staying well. We elevate all women entrepreneurs.

How did it come to be? 

I worked in local government community economic development for over 20 years. It was a pleasure to work alongside some great people who were trying to ease access to capital for our underserved entrepreneurs. Women were always the most underserved. I researched the market and lending practices and came away with the sense that women, especially women of color who have always had micro-businesses, could increase their chances of success of building business credit with business financial education so I launched The Women’s Center for Economic Opportunity and started our first cohort in 2013 over on the near Southside in the APDS building. We have expanded over the years and now the Aspire cohorts conclude with a well-attended public pitch competition. We are proud of our research on entrepreneurial economic mobility and now a publisher. Our vision is that every woman will achieve her full economic potential. 

What drives your organization?

Data. In Central Ohio data show that women entrepreneurs are an untapped economic reservoir. Columbus Foundation’s 2024 Benchmarking Report ranked Columbus in the bottom third, 17th of 22 peer cities, for the number of women-owned businesses. That’s not just a statistic—it’s a reflection of missed potential, stalled progress, and untapped power in our local economy. And we are trending downward. It confirms our own research Advancing Entrepreneurial Mobility an economic impact study on minority and minority women business owners that rang an alarm on data showing African American women creating business at a lower rate than the national average. And business creation is happening predominantly in low growth industries. It’s akin to red-lining. We use this data to inform the design of our accelerator programs. 

Women make up 51% of the population in the region. The contributions we can make to our prosperity is needed to sustain overall quality of here in our county. So that’s why we focus on 1. supporting early growth stage women business owners, especially those who want to create community-based jobs, 2. research that distills actionable insights that drive design of community-wide strategic solutions and economic models and 3. publications such as our soon to be released Aspire Women’s Book of Business that honors outstanding women business owners from every background and our allies. We want to elevate their excellence in business achievement and thought leadership to inspire our entire community. 

Any upcoming events?

The Aspire Women’s Book of Business launches on May 7. The Book is presented by Victoria’s Secret & Co. and the networking event will take place at their headquarters in Reynoldsburg from 4:30 to 6:30. There will be catering by Dos Hermanos, bar by Bad Ass Mobile Bartending, we’ll honor amazing women (and some very smart men), the networking will be special, plus you’ll get to take home The Book. Come to be inspired, stay to get connected. 

How can others get involved?

We invite you to join us in this movement to elevate women entrepreneurs to new levels of impact and influence! You can get involved by subscribing at https://www.womensceo.org/getintheroom. 

We are for women, by women so it’s all about the women we serve- we call them women who dare- dare to dream and do, dare to think boldly, to innovate, to lift their voice and bet on themselves. And lift others as they climb. 

If that’s you, we invite your engagement. For example our honorees are nominated by the public and thought-leadership is in the author’s own voice. We value and welcome diverse perspectives from all women business owners and our allies too! 

Send us your press releases, new client and promotional announcements so we can publish your good news. Just won an award? Send it over. And we love posting event announcements and photos. Follow us on IG @AspireBookofBusiness and tag and collaborate with us. 

We socially elevate and amplify the work of women Founders at every stage of business, CEOs, owners, and innovators. And to the broader business community, if you have a partnership you’d like to highlight, a woman-owned business that deserves special kudos please send us the press release with a great photo and we’ll include it in our monthly updates. 

Email us at GoodNews@BookofBusiness.biz