A sea of women entrepreneurs attends a United Way Women's Leadership luncheon. Photo by Sidonia Rose Swarm
By Alma Kadragic
First came the birth of the Miami technology ecosystem, strongly supported by the Knight Foundation and visible with the launch of e-Merge Americas in the first half of 2014. As e-Merge continued, incubators and accelerators grew together with co-working spaces like Pipeline and WeWork. And then someone realized that despite a few stars, the technology ecosystem seemed to benefit male entrepreneurs far more than women.
One answer was the launch in May of WIN Lab Miami, The Center for Women's Entrepreneurial Leadership, backed by Babson College. Starting this month 20 women - from new entrepreneurs to those with several startups behind them - will spend eight months at WIN Lab developing concepts, brands, and management to create scalable companies.
WIN Lab Director Nelly Farra moderated a panel of women entrepreneurs today, sponsored by United Way as part of its Women's Leadership Let's Do Lunch program. The panel included Mary Anderson, a tech industry senior marketing executive focusing on investing and advising early and mid-stage companies; and entrepreneurs Suzanne Batlle, founder and owner, Azucar Ice Cream Company; Marilu Rios Kernan, co-founder and president, Pepe Loves Books, working on her fifth startup; and Amanda Pizarro, co-owner, The Salty Donut.
That more than 100 women attended the lunch at United Way's headquarters in Miami suggests that women are beginning to become visible in the technology ecosystem. Not everyone will start a company and not all of the attendees were business owners. However, they listened and applauded as the entrepreneurs shared experiences, some difficult, all of them instructive.
As president of the Miami chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), I came to luncheon to see if I could find new members. Too many women in business go it alone and prefer to follow the hidden path in the woods rather than the broad avenue in the sun. I believe in exposure with all the risks that can entail. Certainly the panelists had taken and were continuing to take risks. I hope their example will inspire at least some of those 100 women to launch a business; grow their business; or invest in someone else's business - all good ways to make women count in the technology ecosystem.
Alma Kadragic is president of Alcat Communications International and president of the Miami chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO). Follow here on Twitter @almakad.