The 2022 Latinas in Business Empowerment Summit for Women Entrepreneurs (WEES 2022), a conference that annually brings together successful Latinas and other diverse women entrepreneurs in the region to “learn, connect and succeed,” announced the winners for this year’s edition.

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The main event, which will take place on June 24, 2022, between 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.(ET), at Berkeley College's Mid-Manhattan campus, has as its theme for this year “Success! How Women Entrepreneurs Make It in America,” which specifically references the harsh conditions women entrepreneurs of color and female founders face in order to “start and expand their businesses in an environment of discrimination and barriers to opportunities.”

Programming

• 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. (ET): Panelist presentation of who's who in each area of development, along with a luncheon reception and their exclusive peer-to-peer networking session that will help women entrepreneurs elevate themselves and their businesses.
• 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (ET): Keynote address and award ceremony for 12 successful leaders for excelling in growing their businesses or building their communities.

The organization underlined:

Relax and enjoy in a camaraderie environment with peer-to-peer networking and a fantastic open bar Mixology Reception with Stand-up Comedian Celebrity Speaker Gina Brillon.

Small Business Champion 2022

For this year's edition, Natalie Madeira Cofield, Assistant Administrator of the SBA and head of the Office of Women’s Business Ownership, was selected as the 2022 champion.

Madeira Cofield “is a seasoned entrepreneur and executive with over 15 years of experience in securing diverse capital, building strategic partnerships, and leading state and local economic development policy advocacy to successfully incubate and scale small business development and expansion initiatives in communities throughout the United States,” points out in its profile the Small Business Administration (SBA).

The SBA also highlights that Madeira Cofield “brings extensive experience leading business and trade associations and working with corporations, and philanthropic organizations to develop programs to support entrepreneurship within women-led, diverse and urban communities and is responsible for securing over $22 million in capital to invest in entrepreneurial ventures and small business programs and initiatives.” 

Madeira Cofield, a graduate of Howard University where she received her BBA in Information Systems and the Baruch School of Public Affairs where she was a National Urban Fellow, recently served as Founder & CEO of Walker's Legacy and the Walker's Legacy Foundation providing entrepreneurship programming to support thousands of multicultural women entrepreneurs.

Among the list of award-winning leaders are:

• Ivana Sedia – Founder of United Translation
• Jacqueline Sansone – Vice President of Investors Bank
• Laura Matos – President of Board of Latina Civic PAC
• Dr. Patricia Campos-Medina – President Latina Civic PAC
• Andrea Martinez-Mejia – Chief of Staff for the New Jersey Department of Health
• Samantha Telfair – Founder, the MERGER. State of Mind
• Marcela Berland – President and CEO of Latin Insights
• Lucy Pinto – Manager of the Grow with Google Digital Coaches Program
• Evelyn Padin – Founder, Law Offices of Evelyn Padin and Nominated U.S. District Court Judge in NJ Supreme Court
• Elisa Neira – Deputy Commissioner at NJ Department of Human Services – Office of New Americans
• Monica Ramirez – Founder/President, Justice for Migrant Women; Co-founder, The Latinx House

To register for this event, you can click here.