The Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation will feature six keynote speakers at its annual luncheon on November 5 to celebrate its 25th anniversary.
Among the speakers is Anne Hastings, CEO of Fonkoze, who has been recognized by the United Nations for her work to bring the women of Haiti out of extreme poverty with microfinance. She started Fonkoze in 1996 and has grown it to more than 900 employees and 46 branches throughout rural Haiti. The microfinance institution has helped 275,000 clients in the poverty stricken country.
Michelle Bachelet, executive director of UN Women and Under-Secretary-General of the UN, who was the president of Chile from 2006 to 2010, will also speak at the luncheon. She fights discrimination against women worldwide and will speak on women’s leadership and economic empowerment.
Other speakers include Valerie Daniels-Carter, a Milwaukee entrepreneur who owns more than 60 Pizza Huts and more than 30 Burger Kings, Robert Egger, founder and president of DC Central Kitchen and CForward Campaign, Julia Taylor, a WWBIC founder and president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee and Jose Andres, an award-winning chef, entrepreneur and “Mr. Spain.”
WWBIC assists entrepreneurs, particularly women and the underserved, in starting and growing their businesses.
“We provide assistance through business education, financial awareness classes, as well as provide loans,” said Lisa Sullivan, event coordinator. “Our mission work focuses on women, those of lesser income and minorities, because those are traditionally underserved in the financial market.”
The organization raises about $50,000 each year at the luncheon, and Sullivan expects about 700 guests.
“It’s a time for us to pull together all the people we deal with on a day to day basis,” she said. “We can share the story of microfinance on a local level, national level and then also throughout our world.”
The WWBIC Annual Luncheon will be held on Monday, Nov. 5, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Pfister Hotel, 424 E. Wisconsin Ave. in Milwaukee. For more information, contact Sullivan at lisa.sullivan@wwbic.com.
