Center for Women and Enterprise, NH Women's Business Center partners with the Community Navigator Program
Chandra Reber, Director of Center for Women and Enterprise, NH Women's Business Center, discusses their partnership with the Community Navigator Program, and shares the goal of raising consciousness around efforts providing tailored support for women entrepreneurs that addresses the additional barriers women face as small business owners.
The NH Center for Women and Enterprise (CWE), an inclusive economic empowerment organization, has partnered up with the Community Navigator Program, an American Rescue Plan initiative designed to reduce barriers that underrepresented and underserved entrepreneurs often face in accessing the programs they need to recover, grow, or start their businesses.
Before joining CWE, Director Chandra Reber spent a decade serving as a licensed expressive arts therapist and trauma counselor in the mental health field, focusing her energy on serving women and other underserved groups. She then turned her passion for women's empowerment towards helping women navigate the world of small business ownership in order to achieve economic health and prosperity. The CWE NH helps women business owners and aspiring women entrepreneurs launch and grow their businesses by providing greater access to the resources, tools, and support they need. Reber spoke with us about the partnership with CNP and their shared goals, working collaboratively to raise consciousness and better support women entrepreneurs.
What are some of the ways your organization has collaborated with the Community Navigator Program?
We've been working with the different spokes through the Community Navigator Program, brainstorming ways to bring awareness of the disparity that women entrepreneurs often face and rally around them by offering the tailored support both programs can provide. We are focusing on going out into the community and connecting to folks through networking pop-up events. This approach lets us direct more individuals to all of the different resources we have available across the CNP ecosystem, and build personal relationships that fosters trust, which has been impactful.
As the needs of the individuals you serve change over time, what has the organization done to meet the demands?
When we started with our first location in Boston in 1995, the organization primarily focused on access to capital. It quickly pivoted to becoming more like what we are now, focusing on the TA (technical assistance) piece, education, and community building. There was just so much that women needed support in order to be ready to apply for, and receive funding that was readily available for their cisgender male counterparts, but wasn't as accessible for women. That was probably the biggest change in the beginning.
From there, we grew to have 5 Women's Business Centers across New England. We also entered into an agreement with the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), which is the main national-level organization offering women-owned certification for businesses looking for contracts in the private sector. Meaning that we work with women-owned companies to achieve the certification they need to participate in supplier diversity programs and compete against a smaller pool of suppliers, ensuring that more women-owned companies can compete for and successfully win larger contracts, generating more revenue for their businesses and allowing them to grow.
And now, especially with the Pandemic, we went virtual, letting people connect with us from their own homes without needing to find childcare or fitting in our services over their lunch break. How we work shifted to meet people more where they're at. And over the past several years, especially with the Pandemic, we are making an even more intentional, relationship-focused effort, reaching more women from underserved, underestimated communities. Our mission has always been to serve the underserved, so the collaboration with CNP and the additional resources for the community is a natural fit and benefits us all, but most especially the women business owners themselves.
How does the Community Navigator Program benefit from CWE's partnership? What makes your organization stand out?
We hear from our clients consistently that people may come for the content, but they stay for the community. They find their way to us and often stay with us because it's a very different experience coming to an organization that is by women, for women. I think there's safety in that because we acknowledge that the vast majority of people have some type of trauma in their history, and we've implemented trauma-informed training for our staff. When you become a small business owner, you don't just check that baggage at the door, it comes with you, and you deserve to be met in that place with respect.
At one of the first workshops I taught several years ago, a woman came up and told me she had registered for classes before, but this was the first time she actually made it through the door. She said, "You made me realize I belong here. I can actually do this." That is why we exist, and that is what we bring to the CNP partnership.
The Center for Women & Enterprise (CWE) is a non-profit economic empowerment organization whose mission is to strengthen communities and the economy by supporting women to launch and successfully sustain businesses. Opened in 2015, the New Hampshire Women's Business Center operates in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration. We offer consultations, workshops and networking opportunities to help you reach your entrepreneurial goals.
The Community Navigator Program is a statewide initiative to help coordinate efforts to reach out to small businesses that are owned or being started by historically underserved community members, specifically Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; immigrants and refugees; veterans; women; disabled, formerly incarcerated; and LGBTQ and gender non-conforming people. Through the Community Navigator Program, CDFA engages with resource partners and other organizations to support focused outreach for small businesses in underserved communities - building a new network and connections.
The support to these communities is made possible through a network of established microenterprise technical assistance providers, New Hampshire's Small Business Administration office, statewide training and language-access partners, and on-the-ground community partners. Funding for the program is provided by the U.S. Small Business Administration.