The City of Atlanta today announced that the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative has been selected for the second consecutive year to serve as a local host to the U.S. Small Business Administration InnovateHER: 2016 Innovating for Women Business Challenge competition. InnovateHER is a nationwide competition that is seeking entrepreneurs who are creating products or services that have a measurable impact on women and their families, fills a need in the marketplace and has potential for commercialization. As a local host to the inaugural launch of the competition in 2015, WEI will reprise the role, with the added bonus of partnering with two impactful organizations dedicated to entrepreneurial empowerment in Atlanta – the Center for Civic Innovation and Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs Women’s Business Center.  

While WEI focuses its outreach to women entrepreneurs primarily in Atlanta and surrounding communities, its downtown neighbor and the 2015 recipient of the coveted Echoing Green Fellowship Award, the Center for Civic Innovation, works with entrepreneurs who are developing socially-impactful businesses and services, to benefit the community at large. ACE’s Women’s Business Center, located in Norcross, works to engage women entrepreneurs, particularly from the Hispanic community, with opportunities to advance their business goals. By working collaboratively, the three organizations will be able to maximize their targeted outreach to encourage entrepreneurs to participate in the InnovateHER 2016 competition, across the metro-Atlanta region.  

“The Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative is honored to partner with ACE’s Women’s Business Center and CCI to serve as local co-hosts to this unique competition with the SBA," said Theia Washington Smith, WEI’s Executive Director. “While our organizations may all be unique in our services, we are united in our commitment to connecting entrepreneurs in our communities with opportunities to elevate their business objectives, and showcase their innovative solutions to everyday challenges women and their families face.”

“At the ACE Women’s Business Center we feel very strongly about collaboration. Working together with organizations like WEI and CCI allows us to reach a larger audience, provide more robust services and encourage a more diverse representation of talent during competitions like InnovateHER”, said Maria Peck, Director of ACE’s Women’s Business Center.

“The Center for Civic Innovation is always looking for new opportunities to bring resources to our local entrepreneurs who have potential for impact,” said Melonie Tharpe, Director of Programs for CCI. “Not only is this competition a great resource, but the exposure provided by working with both ACE and WEI is invaluable for our social entrepreneurs”.

The InnovateHER 2016 challenge will take the form of local competitions that will be run across the country during the month of March 2016 by host organizations such as universities, accelerators, clusters, scale-up communities, and SBA Resource Partners. Following the completion of the local competitions, each host organization will identify one winner that will advance to the semi-final round of the challenge. WEI, CCI and ACE have partnered together to adopt a streamlined process for their local competition, encouraging applicants to submit their business plans online, followed by ten finalists being selected to pitch their businesses during a live pitch event, on the afternoon of November 20 at the Center for Civic Innovation. The highest scoring entrepreneur will then be nominated to the SBA, to compete in Washington D.C. on March 17, 2016 during SBA’s National Small Business Week for cash prizes of up to $70,000.

Local entrepreneurs interested in applying should fill out the application at http://www.civicatlanta.org/innovateher and send their 20 page or less business plan to [email protected]. The complete competition rules are posted at sba.gov/innovateHER.