Training Events

The ATHENA Leadership Program is designed to create stronger female leaders. Join a dynamic cohort of women from across all industries as we study the 8 principles of ATHENA leadership.  This program is an inspiring and uplifting series that will motivate you to connect, share and grow.

8 Month-Program, meets one time per month on the 4th Thursday of the month. 

2023 dates: Apr. 27; May 25; Jun. 22; Jul. 27; Aug. 24; Sep. 28; Oct. 6*; Nov. 16 and Dec. TBD.  *IMPACT Summit - October 6

All sessions are from 8:30am-10:00am at Florida Tech's Center for Aeronautics and Innovation, 1050 W. Nasa Blvd, Melbourne. Breakfast and networking available at 8:00am. 

Scholarship opportunities are available thanks to Zonta Club of Melbourne.  To apply, please email weventure@fit.edu.  If you are interested in sponsoring a woman through ATHENA, or sponsoring the program, email krudloff@fit.edu to discuss how your business can help bring this fantastic program to local women. 

More about the program: 

The ATHENA Leadership Model can help women transform their leadership skills and empower them to step up during these times of economic turmoil, a pandemic, and a worldwide movement for economic and racial justice to be the leaders we need them to be. 

Based on the eight ATHENA principles of enlightened leadership identified by ATHENA International, this course is designed to help emerging female leaders grow in confidence and clarity of purpose. Participants read and discuss the book, Becoming ATHENA by Martha Mertz, and each class session is a dedicated deep dive on one of the principles. They also have access to all of ATHENA International's virtual programming and online resources for one year.  

This program aims to cultivate women on their personal growth journey while inspiring them to connect and share with others. Sessions are led by weVENTURE Executive Director, Kathryn Rudloff, and feature a diverse group of successful women business leaders from the Space and Treasure Coasts as guest speakers and panelists. Participants learn from these inspiring women as they share their own stories and leadership lessons. Women are encouraged to share their life experiences to learn from and support each other. 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Small Businesses 

Now more than ever, businesses are looking for tangible ways to diversify their workforce and equip emerging leaders with the tools they need to rise into management roles. 

Sponsoring an emerging leader from your business is a great way to invest in her career development and connect her to the local weVENTURE WBC and global ATHENA network of women.   The program provides supplemental experiential learning and enrichment opportunities during and after the monthly meetings.  

 

 

The Florida WBC Network is hosting a series of webinars to help Women Business Owners learn to

Advocate, Connect and Engage in the legislative process.

The third session on June 15th will review the Florida Women's Business Center 2023 Issue Survey

and discuss the policy issues that impact small businesses. 

Please take 3 minutes to complete this quick survey.  

 

The four Florida Women's Business Centers strive to be a voice and resource for women entrepreneurs in the state of Florida.  We are grateful for input from clients as we prepare to engage with our elected representatives this Summer and Fall about issues impacting women-owned businesses.  This live interactive webinar will be a chance to discuss issues covered by the survey and others that are important to YOU.  Staff from the Women's Business Centers will be on hand to discuss and learn about the challenges facing Florida entrepreneurs.  We will also share preliminary results from the survey, and discuss legislative priorities for the coming months. 

Don't wait until a bill becomes law -  you can be a part of the process by sharing with us issues impacting your business! We want to hear from YOU!  

 

If you are interested in learning more about our effort to help entrepreneurs Advocate, Connect and Engage (A.C.E) in the legislative process, check out the first two A.C.E. webinars here.   These sessions provided a general overview of the legislative process in Florida and how to engage with your legislators in Tallahassee and when they are home in the district.  

 

 

FAQ’s

Who is eligible to take the survey?:  All female entrepreneurs in Florida are invited to participate in the 2023 Women’s Business Center Issue Survey.

 

What is the survey for?: The staff from the four Florida Women’s Business Centers will reference aggregate summary data collected by the survey to advocate for policies to better support female entrepreneurs in Florida.  The Survey will also help inform what business education training topics we should host in the coming months.

 

How long will the survey be available?  The survey will be available to collect responses from May 15th – June 15th .   Respondents are invited to join us on June 15th for a webinar where we will review some of the survey results and discuss these issues in more depth.  We want to hear from you! The June 15th webinar is an additional opportunity to share more about how government policies are impacting your business. Register for the webinar here.

 

Who will view the results?  Individual responses are anonymous and will not be made public. Only staff from weVENTURE Women’s Business Center in Florida can view all anonymous responses. The staff of the four Florida Women’s Business Centers will reference aggregate summary data collected by the survey when they meet with elected officials in Washington and Tallahassee to advocate on behalf of our clients and all female entrepreneurs.

 

 

 

 

Robert Green, ICC Project Design Leader, Business Strategy Advisor and CEO of Melbourne Business Advisors will present three webinars on Pricing Strategies for Your Business.  June 20, July 18 and August 15, 12:00pm-1:00pm.  

Pricing Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them (June 20)

In this webinar, Robert will discuss what is the function of Price, why pricing strategy is important to your business, the 7 most common pricing mistakes in setting prices, and how to calculate prices using a formula that doesn't cut into your expected margins, calculating the break-even, while touching on price elasticity and the concern that higher prices might impact customers.

Pricing to Value (July 18)

In this webinar, Robert will discuss shifting your thoughts on the value of Value, comparison shopping your competition, and how you can consider the value proposition across Time, Identity, Money (or other benefits), Energy, and Reputation, as well as basic formulas to increase prices of your product, programs, or services.

Discounting Strategies that Preserve Profits (August 15)

Robert will discuss the benefits and costs of discounting, and devising a way to package up your value proposition in such a way that you are not losing earnings when someone has a desire to buy at a lower price point, and allows you to have a way to promote a customer to a higher class of products, programs, or services. 

If you are a small business owner or aspiring entrepreneur looking to take your business to the next level, this is a great opportunity for you to discover funding opportunities and meet local lenders at the SBDC at Eastern Florida State College's Lenders' Panel.  Connect with a diverse group of lenders for your startup costs, expansion or working capital needs.

Experienced lenders will share their expertise on funding options, loan evaluation criteria, common challenges, and required documents.  Attendees will have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with lenders after the panel discussion.  The panel will be moderated by SBDC consultant, Maggie Incandela.

Reservations are required!

¿Estás listo para lanzar o hacer crecer tu negocio?

Únete a nosotros para una mañana de networking, beneficiosas presentaciones, y un delicioso almuerzo.

¡Todo en español!

Los talleres incluyen:

  • Comenzar un negocio desde el primer paso
  • Creación de un Plan de Negocios
  • Obtención de Capital y Préstamos
  • Marketing en la era digital
  • Mantener una mentalidad emprendedora
  • Redes de negocios: aprender a aprovechar las relaciones

Cuando: Jueves 22 de junio 9am-1pm

Donde: Florida Tech Center for Advanced Manufacturing and Innovative Design (CAMID)  2495 Palm Bay Road NE, Palm Bay

Costo: $10 - Almuerzo latino incluido por Latin Flavor

¿Preguntas? Llame a Sondée Lima al 321-343-7899.

En asociación con la SBA y el Centro Hispano Brevard.

Gracias a los patrocinadores L3 Harris 

Pathways en Español

Únete a nosotros por 4 semanas informativas y obtenga más información para LANZAR y CRECER tu propio negocio.

Día 1:

  •  Cómo empiezo: Requisitos para todos los nuevos negocios
  •  Los roles y responsabilidades de ser dueño: el trabajo del negocio

Día 2:

  •  La Mente Emprendedora: actitudes y habilidades esenciales para la gestión empresarial
  •  El dinero: Conceptos básicos financieros para los negocios

Día 3:

  •  Canvas (BMC) Modulo de Negocio: Creación de tu hoja de ruta, plan para el éxito
  •  El Plan de Negocios: Creando tu hoja de ruta para el éxito parte dos

Día 4:

  •  Marketing y Ventas: Creciendo tu negocio
  •  Recursos

Después del seminario, tendrás tu propio mentor GRATIS para ayudarte y guiarte a través del proceso.

El evento se llevará a cabo en español.

El costo es de $40 y hay becas disponibles.

Se ofrece a través de Zoom o en persona en:

2202 S. Babcock Street, Room 130, Melbourne, FL 32901

Para más información, llama a Sondee Lima al 321-343-7899

 

Este proyecto está financiado en parte por un acuerdo de cooperación con la Administración de Pequeñas Empresas de EE. UU (SBA por su sigla en inglés). weVENTURE WBC no discrimina por raza o género, y de hecho el 30% de nuestros clientes son hombres. Los servicios están disponibles en inglés y en español.

 

Do you have a great business idea but no idea where to start? weVENTURE has what you need! The IGNITE 360® PATHWAYS Business Launch Program is designed to help aspiring entrepreneurs turn their concept into a successful business. The program includes 4 weeks of how-to start up instruction, followed by 3 weeks of intensive coaching and support. With this dual-focused strategy, you get the information you need along with the support you want to help turn your ideas into a reality and launch your start-up with greater success!  Led by weVENTURE WBC staff and featuring presentations from local subject matter experts, this is a fantastic option for entrepreneurs who want to be able to ask questions, talk through challenges and benefit from deadlines and accountability support. 

Dates:  September 9, 16, 23 and 30; October 7, 14 and 21.

The Pathways Program covers the fundamentals of business development, from business planning and strategy development to financial management and marketing. Participants receive live instruction, take-home resources, one-on-one business coaching, access to industry experts, and a supportive community of like-minded entrepreneurs to journey along with.

So if you're ready to take your business concept to the next level, register for the Pathways business launch program today. You'll gain the knowledge, skills, and confidence you need to turn your dreams into a thriving business.

Program size is limited so don't wait - talk to your weVENTURE WBC Business Coach today!

Cost:  $80

weVENTURE Women's Business Center in the Florida Tech Bisk College of Business strives to be the leading resource for professional women on the Space and Treasure Coasts.  Each year, weVENTURE WBC hosts a leadership development conference, the IMPACT Summit, as an opportunity for professional women and entrepreneurs to invest some time in personal and professional development.

This will be an in-person conference, creating space for women to come together to network, to be inspired and to learn tangible techniques they can apply to their work and personal lives.  The opening session features a keynote address from Laura DiBella, Secretary of Commerce, President and CEO at Enterprise Florida.  Participants can then pick which breakout sessions to attend, based on three tracts:  Personal Development, Communication or Business Strategy.   

Sponsors and their guests are invited to stay for a VIP lunch with the speakers. A limited number of tickets will also be available for purchase by guests already registered for the IMPACT Summit. They will be released in September.  For information about sponsoring this event, visit: https://weventure.fit.edu/events/impact-summit/ 

Detailed Agenda

8:30 – Networking & Coffee

9:15 – Session 1 – Keynote Address

10:15 - Break out sessions on personal growth, communication and business strategy.  

11:45-12:30 – Session 2 

12:30 – Networking

1:00 -   VIP Lunch

 

KEYNOTE

  • Laura DiBella Secretary of Commerce, President and CEO at Enterprise Florida

BREAKOUT SESSION SPEAKERS 

PANEL DISCUSSION 

  • TBD