National Black Women’ s Network
BUSINESS NETWORKING 55
National Black Women’ s Network
When Sonia Brown formed“ The National Black Women’ s Network( NBWN)” it was with the simple goal that –“ it was a place were aspirational women came together to share their experiences, acumen and knowledge from both the workplace and business in order to open the door for other women who were serious about taking their careers to the next level.”
The NBWN provides dynamic initiatives through network support, enabling women from diverse backgrounds and occupations to develop strong professional and social contacts; high quality training and education programmes; leadership and national recognition.“ This is a network where we actively celebrate and showcase the outstanding achievements of women of colour and more importantly, we will leave a legacy for the next generation of under-represented in enterprise including black Africans, black Caribbeans and Bangladeshis, while there are relatively few women in business in all groups. So, over the years, the NBWN has worked closely with Business Link London, Lloyds TSB Bank Plc, HSBC Bank Plc, the former Department of Trade & Industry and oneLondon to host the hugely successful“ Let’ s Talk Business” series of networking events which has seen an impressive line up of speakers and government representatives in attendance.
“ Under the“ Let’ s Talk Business” networking banner, the NBWN support’ s entrepreneurial development as a way of achieving self-sufficiency, creating wealth and increasing economic opportunity” explained Sonia.“ By featuring the who’ s who in business; focusing on industry trends, innovative would have if they could remove many of the barriers that keep them under the radar and reaching their full potential.”
“ Our main focus over the coming year, will be in the area of access to finance where a recent survey conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry found a series of discrepancies in the way that white and ethnic minority businesses were treated by lenders” explains Sonia.
With the newly established Ethnic Minority Business Task Force, which aims to boost the participation of BAME entrepreneurs in the British economy, the NBWN aim to ensure that all sectors of this community access opportunities to grow and develop their businesses.“ More importantly we want to know how the Ethnic Minority Business Task Force is going to work with other stakeholders to get the message out to these communities
“ Lets Talk Business”
There’ s nothing more powerful than when women get together and talk – magic always happens!
impressionable young women( and men) coming through the ranks” adds Sonia.
From its exciting launch at Dulwich College, South London in 1999 under the enthusiastic patronage of Baroness Howells of St David, OBE former Director of the Greenwich Racial Equality Council and the dynamic Brenda Emmanus BBC London Entertainment Correspondent, the Network has grown from strength to strength hosting a number of successful meetings for its members with the support of its influential and committed stakeholders. A number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic( BAME) groups are marketing techniques and best practice solutions, entrepreneurs at all stages of their business will benefit from networking with Britain’ s business elites.”
Behind the scenes the Network works closely with government officials charged with supporting ethnic minority businesses to ensure its members are kept abreast of current legislative issues and
policies.“ There are an estimated 300,000 small BAME businesses in the UK who contribute an estimated £ 20 billion per year to the UK economy” explains Sonia
“ So imagine the impact BAME businesses to help promote good credit management and tackle financial delinquency, this applies to start-ups wishing to grow and develop their businesses” adds Sonia.“ This is no trivial issue!” Sonia concludes.“ The Network will actively work with its partners Lloyds Bank Plc and Business Link London to look for opportunities to address the issues and remove the additional barriers that impede minority businesses success over and above the standard business risk factors. For more information about the National Black Women’ s Network visit www. nbwn. org / www. letstalkbusiness. biz
ISSUE FOUR 2007 engage | uk