Adams, Duckworth, Hirono Host Roundtable & Introduce Resolutions Recognizing Minority Women Entrepreneurs during Women’s Small Business Month

Washington, D.C.—Today, Congresswoman Alma S. Adams, Ph.D. (NC-12), Vice Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee, hosted a roundtable about necessity entrepreneurship, the unique factors that drive women to become small business owners such as child care, career opportunity, and gender discrimination in the workplace. Following the conclusion of the roundtable, Rep. Adams and Senators Duckworth and Hirono introduced resolutions in both the House and the Senate recognizing October at Women's Small Business Month, necessity as a driver, and minority women entrepreneurs. For the first time in the committee's history all seven female members in the House and two of the six female members on the Senate Small Business committee are ethnic minorities.

"Costly childcare, workplace discrimination, and a lack of career opportunities are just a few of the challenges driving women to become entrepreneurs," said Congresswoman Adams. "Women own 38% of small businesses and, in the last decade, 80% of those have been started by minority women, changing the face of small business. As Vice Ranking Member of the House Small Business Committee I'm proud to support minority women entrepreneurs and I'll continue to champion solutions to the unique challenges facing female business owners."

"Minority women-owned businesses not only support hardworking American families and create local jobs – they also have the power to change the economic landscape for entire communities of color," said Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth. "I'm proud to support minority women entrepreneurs and I'll keep working in the Senate to promote economic justice in Illinois and across the country."

"National Women's Small Business Month is an opportunity to celebrate women entrepreneurs in Hawaii, and recommit to creating opportunity for more women to start their own businesses, said Hawaii Senator Mazie K. Hirono. "While the overall trends for women entrepreneurs are positive, I'm proud to introduce this resolution with Sen. Duckworth and Rep. Adams to highlight the gains as well as the challenges particularly facing minority women entrepreneurs. I look forward to continuing to work together to make entrepreneurial opportunities available for all."

"One of the ways that the National Women's Business Council hopes to focus the attention of policy officials on the needs of women small business owners during this October's National Small Business Month is through our recent release of a new research paper on ‘necessity entrepreneurship' in the United States. Necessity as a Driver of Women's Entrepreneurship: Her Stories seeks to expand the traditional definition of necessity entrepreneurship which largely focuses on the concept of ‘survival entrepreneurship' or ‘emergency entrepreneurship,'" said Esther Morales, Executive Director of the National Women's Business Council. "Necessity entrepreneurship tends to be contrasted with so-called ‘opportunity entrepreneurship,' a phrase that conjures an image of a market disrupter with a brilliant idea. The Council recognizes that this distinction between the ‘pushed' or ‘pulled' into business ownership is limited to the extent that it limits our imagination for strong support structures and policy intervention."

"As a minority-owned, woman-owned small business, it's incredibly meaningful to know that we have such a dynamic and diverse group of female members in the House and Senate, interested in listening to our unique perspectives," said Maia Sciupac, Co-Founder and Chief Design Strategist of Create&. "Starting a business is already difficult, let alone starting a business as a minority woman. Many of us have had to work that much harder for a seat at the table, access to capital, and mentorship. For me, entrepreneurship offers the freedom to work on the causes I care about, in a supportive environment that I co-created, while being able to provide for my family."

Please see a copy of the resolution attached.

The roundtable included the following witnesses: Tambra Raye Stevenson , Founder and CEO, WANDA - Women Advancing Nutrition Dietetics and Agriculture; Kristina Francis, President/CEO, Esteem Logic; Maia Sciupac, Co-Founder and Chief Design Strategist, Create&; Esther Morales, Executive Director of the National Women Business Council.