The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) in partnership with the Southern Region Minority Supplier Development Council (SRMSDC), Women’s Business Enterprise Council South, and Diverse & Engaged is excited to announce the first-ever Women of Color: Hack in Heels Brunch taking place June 30 from 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. at Harrah’s in New Orleans, sponsored by Liberty Mutual Insurance.
The Women of Color: Hack in Heels Brunch is a specially curated experience designed to engage the most inclusive group of women of color business owners and champions within the supplier diversity ecosystem in a safe space to download. Based on the commonly used hackathon framework, it looks to create a space for women of color, minority business enterprises (MBEs), and women business enterprises (WBEs) of color to be seen, heard, and feel a sense of belonging. This experiential exercise will help validate and course-correct false narratives about the current state and the need for women of color to crowdsource solutions to help them scale.
The brunch will consist of four sections including:
- Level Setting: Participants will hear The State of Women of Color: A Presentation of Stats, Facts, and Stories Reported About Women of Color to help ground everyone in a collective understanding.
- Listening Session: Those gathered will engage in a listening session where women can download their biggest challenge and greatest need at their table.
- Hackathon: Building on the learnings from the earlier sections, attendees will rapidly craft their best ideas and solutions to assigned challenges while standing at their table.
- Report Out: Volunteers from the group will have the opportunity to report on the ideas and solutions that were generated during the hackathon.
This event is inspired by the continued challenges many women of color still face in the entrepreneurial space. This includes data from NMSDC’s recent Minority Businesses Economic Report that shows that while 45% of women-owned NMSDC-certified minority business enterprises are owned by Black women, they only account for 13% of the overall revenue generated by NMSDC-certified MBEs. NMSDC, SRMSDC, and Diverse & Engaged believe this event is an essential step towards addressing these types of disparities, so all women of color can flourish and realize their true entrepreneurial potential.
To register for the event, click here.
