NAWBO Orange County Announces New
Women’s Business Institute Education Center

Women business owners, an increasingly significant sector in Orange County, can now turn to NAWBO-OC to strengthen their continuing education in the world of business. In June of this year, the Education Center was launched with the first courses delivering knowledge on business planning.

The Women’s Business Institute (WBI) is the 501(c)(3) funding arm for the new Education Center developed by the National Association of Women Business Owners, Orange County (NAWBO-OC). The primary mission of the WBI is to support the continuing business education needs of women business owners, with a secondary focus on supporting all women in business.

“That the Education Center has become a reality this year is a direct result of the incredible donations of the WBI Founding Members, both individual and corporate,” explained Rachel Owens, who is president of the WBI and also a founding member and current board member of NAWBO-OC. “This has been a very significant step for everyone involved with both WBI and NAWBO-OC,” Owens added.

WBI Founding Members and Course Offerings
Sixteen prominent OC businesswomen responded to the need for the Education Center—the WBI Founding Members, along with eight companies with Marquis Sponsor Sunwest Bank leading the charge. Their combined support enabled NAWBO-OC to launch the Education Center with an ongoing, structured curriculum of business education courses.

According to Glenn Gray, CEO of Sunwest Bank, supporting the new WBI Education Center was “a very logical step” for the Tustin-based business bank. “The woman business owner is a very significant part of our business and growing more so each year. Establishing this partnership with NAWBO, right here in Orange County, is in direct alignment with our bank’s goals. As the premier women’s business organization in Orange County, NAWBO is a very practical alliance and the Education Center is one way we can give back to the community,” Gray said.

The first such NAWBO Education Center in the nation, the WBI Education Center is providing themed courses in monthly tracks in the following order, repeating every six months:

Camille Jayne, president of NAWBO-OC, one of the WBI founding members and catalyst behind the Education Center, noted that to be most effective in its offerings, NAWBO-OC needed to segment the women business owner market according to experience and size of business - recognizing that the educational needs for different segments would be diverse. “Our strategic planning sessions identified distinct segments. We understood the need to design the curriculum to attract and retain women business owners from each segment,” Jayne explained. “We are proud that our new Education Center offers courses of value for people at various levels of experience, from emerging growth to seasoned executives.”

Depending on complexity, courses are offered as a Class (one 3-hour session; $45), a Workshop (two 3-hour sessions; $90) or a Series (three 3-hour sessions; $120). Qualified instructors are recruited from throughout Orange County—including professional business executives in their field of expertise, as well as instructors and professors from local colleges and universities. Courses are open to NAWBO-OC members and affiliates, as well as the general public. To register, please visit the Education Center Registration Page.

WBI Education Scholarships
Another aspect of the WBI is the Education Scholarships to be awarded to NAWBO-OC members—again made possible by the generous donations of the WBI Founding Members. Each year, NAWBO-OC members will vie for scholarship monies that can be used toward any seminars, classes, conferences and/or certifications across the country to further their business growth.

Scholarship monies will be awarded each year at NAWBO-OC’s Remarkable Women Awards luncheon. In 2007, scholarships have been generously donated by:

Scholarship recipients are selected based on three criteria: first, being a NAWBO-OC member in good standing; second, the applicant’s ability to articulate her desire for educational development; and third, her plan for how to apply the educational funds to further her business growth and success.

The combined Matters at Hand and UC Irvine The Paul Merage School of Business scholarship will be unique—the $4000 scholarship will be awarded to a highly established NAWBO-OC executive business owner and is to be applied toward courses in a variety of continuing education offerings from UCI’s Paul Merage School of Business. Over a two-year period, this scholarship recipient may take advantage of offerings from: the Paul Merage MBA Update Program—intensive sessions to sharpen management skills; the Executive Education program—ongoing management education to leaders in organizations faced with complex problems in rapidly changing, multi-cultural, technological, and competitive environments; the Executive Exchange—providing an opportunity to exchange information and ideas with colleagues and world-class business faculty who are experts in their fields and are acquainted with the most current thinking and research; and the Distinguished Speaker Series offered by the Paul Merage School of Business.

Why Now, Why NAWBO-OC?
The WBI Education Center has resulted from the explosive growth NAWBO-OC has experienced in recent months. Membership has reached over 400 women business owners—with 150 of those joining just in the past year—making NAWBO-OC the third-largest chapter in the nation. NAWBO-OC is also one of the most enduring women business associations, having been established in 1991. NAWBO-OC offers the broadest exposure to some of the most successful and powerful women business owners in the area—many of whom are well-respected leaders in Orange County.

The diversity of businesses owned by NAWBO-OC’s inspirational entrepreneurs has not only greatly expanded but is impressive—from construction and stucco companies, athletic clubs, medical and weight loss health clinics, active wear, restaurants, automotive repair, property management, advertising, public relations, and direct response agencies, catering and food manufacturing, outdoor and interior design; to attorneys, financial advisors, insurance brokers, business coaches, bankers, trust officers, CPAs, debt equity providers, website developers, computer systems designers, marketing specialists, bookkeepers, and office/home organizers—just to highlight a few.

NAWBO-OC’s growth stems from innovative ways of ‘Delivering the Value’ to all our constituents. Reaching this highly diverse group is available through multiple avenues:

  1. Individual Member (women business owners)
  2. Supporting Member (woman or man in business)
  3. Corporate Member
  4. Affiliate Member
  5. Corporate Event Sponsors

For more information on the benefits of the various memberships click here. To join NAWBO-OC and experience the energy, the relationships and now the education offerings of NAWBO-OC click here.

The WBI Education Center is open to everyone. To register, please visit the Education Center Registration Page or call 714-630-2983 for more information.

Corporate Sponsors