The Urban League of Louisiana is proud to announce the four finalists that will compete in its 2020 Women in Business Challenge: Scale Up! sponsored by Iberia Bank and AARP Louisiana. The WIB Challenge provides female entrepreneurs with the education, tools, and resources needed to scale their businesses towards profitability and sustainability.

The Women in Business Challenge will be held during New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (www.noew.org), presented by Tulane University and produced by The Idea Village, on Monday, March 23, 6:00p-8:30p, at the WB Collective, 401 St. Joseph Street, New Orleans, LA 70112. This event is a featured part of NOEW in Your Neighborhood.

During the event, an esteemed panel of judges will select the winner based on the effectiveness of the pitch presentation, scalability of the business model, and proposed use of award funds. A celebrated keynote speaker will also provide a motivational address prior to the announcement of the 2020 WIB Challenge winner.

Congratulations to Our Finalists:

Maryam Henderson-Uloho, SisterHearts Thrift Store and SisterHearts Boutique
A thrift store located in Arabi, LA and a boutique located in New Orleans, LA. Both locations that provide transitional work, decarceration training, and a fresh start for formerly incarcerated individuals. https://sisterhearts.org/

Emily Swietlik, Swiet Studio
A New Orleans-based fine art studio specializing in wearable art, costumes, and jewelry. Also, creates #artWORK opportunities for women and artisans around the world (#empowARTment). https://swietstuff.com/

Dorothy Nairne, Delta Builds
Provides eco-friendly building materials, glass containers and household products manufactured from recycled materials. https://deltabuilds.com/

Shondricka Carter, Carter Capital, LLC
Offers tax preparation and planning, accounting, business consulting, personal financial literacy, budgeting analysis, product management and marketing, as well as QuickBooks training and support. http://www.squareup.com/store/cartercapital

This is the 8th year that the Urban League of Louisiana’s Women’s Business Resource Center has hosted the Women in Business Challenge impacting more than 80 female entrepreneurs over the years. Through this program both winners and finalists have gone on to successfully grow their businesses in the Greater New Orleans Area.

To attend this event, register at NOEW.org. All NOEW events and activities are free and open to the public, but registration is required.

About the Urban League of Louisiana
The Urban League of Louisiana is one of 90 affiliates of the National Urban League. The mission of the Urban League is to assist African Americans and other communities seeking equity to secure economic self-reliance, parity, and civil rights. The Urban League’s three Centers of Excellence are focused in the areas of education and youth development, workforce and economic development, and public policy and advocacy. For more information on the Urban League of Louisiana, visit us online at www.urbanleaguela.org.

The Urban League of Louisiana opened the Women’s Business Resource Center (WBRC) in July of 2001 and expanded its capacity in 2010 with the development of the Entrepreneurship Center. Combining the efforts and expertise of the agency’s existing resources with additional specialized consultants and business resources, the Entrepreneurship Center has significantly increased its capacity to facilitate small business development and to provide business consulting, educational training and other resources to assist aspiring and existing entrepreneurs across the state of Louisiana.

About New Orleans Entrepreneur Week
New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) presented by JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a weeklong series of events celebrating business, innovation, and entrepreneurship in New Orleans. Produced by The Idea Village in partnership with the A.B. Freeman Business School at Tulane University, NOEW features speakers, pitch competitions, networking events, panel discussions and more to support innovative and entrepreneurial thinking in the region. For more information: www.NOEW.org.