Join the WIT Women Business Owners Special Interest Group (WBO SIG) for an evening of inspiration—the second event in our 2020-2021 series designed to help entrepreneurs survive, and even thrive, in these uncertain times.

The global pandemic has deeply affected every industry and every aspect of our lives. For Women Business Owners this challenge is keenly felt as work and home are now fully merged while the macro environment shifts around us. It is fitting, therefore, that this year’s theme addresses this reality and finds ways to not only cope, but capitalize, on the many changes.

This hands-on workshop will first present the Business Model Canvas tool. On a single page, participants can visualize the key aspects of their business, focus on strong and at-risk areas, and quickly create entirely new ventures. A few successful WIT business owners will illustrate “before” and “after” pictures of their businesses and how they practically applied Business Model Canvas concepts to pivot. We will then break out into small workshop groups where each person can sketch out their business ideas and next steps. During this working session, participants will leave with a framework for testing their ideas.

This session will follow the agenda outline below:

• 6:00-6:30 PM | Welcome/Overview of Business Model Canvas
• Tool/Presentation of Pivot Examples
• 6:30-7:00 PM | Breakout workshop sessions
• 7:00-7:30 PM | Breakout groups report backs
  
  

Speakers

Jeanne Rossomme
CEO Roadmap Marketing
Women Business Owners SIG Advisor

Jeanne Rossomme is the CEO of RoadMap Marketing, a strategic planning and marketing consultancy. Jeanne has worked with fast growing tech firms, established companies and non-profits to create roadmaps – or solid blueprints connecting the company goals to actionable next steps. Jeanne is also a lover of metrics and analytics to help guide direction and measure progress.

 
Robin McDougal
CEO e-GLAM, Inc.
Women Business Owners SIG Advisor

Robin McDougal is the 2017-2019 Chair of Women Business Owner SIG and CEO of a technology accessories company, e-GLAM, Inc. After starting a business with pocket change and a dream, she has learned first-hand that there is a difference between running a small business and steering a thriving enterprise. She has specialized in data analysis, market intelligence, and impact strategy to bring products to market. She attended George Mason University in the Executive MBA program in Global Business. When she is not growing her business, she indulges her passion for philanthropy. As STEM Advocate and founder of the Pearl Project Institute for Innovation in STEM Literacy she is committed to increasing STEM Literacy in the neediest communities.

Dr. Arti Patel Varanasi
President & CEO, Advancing Synergy, LLC
Women Business Owners SIG Advisor

As President and CEO of Advancing Synergy, LLC, Dr. Arti Patel Varanasi is passionate about developing innovations that empower all individuals to lead healthier and longer lives. She has over 25 years combined experience in cancer research, advocacy, capacity building, health care, public health and project management. Dr. Varanasi’s ultimate goal is to work across sectors to “advance synergy” and develop tools and technologies that help to build sustainable health capacity in resource limited settings. Dr. Varanasi received her PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and MPH from the Johns Hopkins University. She is a graduate of the National Science Foundation funded ACTiVATE® program for women technology entrepreneurs. Dr. Varanasi has a long-standing track record of advocacy, mentoring and empowerment.

Kara Dickey
CEO, SmartCom Solutions
Chair, Women Business Owners SIG

For over two decades Kara has helped SmartCom Solutions’ clients gain a competitive advantage through technical innovations and reduce costs through efficiencies and modernization. Kara brings a breadth and depth of experience in employing automation to solve organizations’ mission critical business needs. These efforts typically required full scale business process reengineering, as well as custom application development. Kara has extensive experience managing and participating in all phases of the system development lifecycle. Kara has diverse application and industry experience including Mortgage Origination, Mortgage Services, Mortgage Securitization, Mutual Fund Processing, Financial Management and Accounting, Supply Chain Management, and Claims Processing. In her capacity as Chief Executive Officer, Kara is also responsible for setting the direction of the company, business development, marketing, and obtaining/managing resources. Kara holds a B.S. in Decision Sciences (computer science concentration) from George University and an MBA (finance concentration) from Marymount University.