Business Coalition for Child Care Solutions
January 20, 2025
Dear NAWBO Members and Partner Organizations,
For over a decade, programs through the federal government have bolstered the involvement of women-owned small businesses in the federal procurement system. These legislative policies allow more women to enter the federal marketplace and provide them the opportunity to grow and scale their businesses.
President Trump’s recent Executive Order on Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity could devastate the women business owner community, potentially closing the door to possible economic expansion. The timing of this executive action coincides with the 50th anniversary of the founding of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and contradicts the values NAWBO stands for.
While the President’s Executive Order does not explicitly target the Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) program, it could have a chilling effect on the program, resulting in delays and loss of opportunities for women-owned businesses. Additionally, the executive order makes a sweeping demand of the private sector, philanthropy, and higher education to roll back their own business practices that support diversity.
Our women business owners put $2.7 trillion into the US economy in 2023 alone. Moreover, the 2024 Wells Fargo report showed us that closing the gap in average revenues between women- and men-owned businesses could generate $7.9 trillion in additional revenue.
Your NAWBO National Board Chair, Dr. Janis Shinkawa, and I will head to the nation’s capital next week. We’ll be talking to lawmakers about the critical importance of programs for women business owners, and we’ll be advocating for their support of WBOs as their predecessors have done in a bipartisan manner for more than 60 years. We are your voice and will continue to ensure Congress hears your concerns.
Please remember we are still working to understand what all these different executive orders mean and the detailed implications they will have for you and your businesses. We are working hard to gather and digest the fast-moving policy landscape and are developing an advocacy strategy in real time to support WBOs. This strategy includes identifying how members and those who support WBOs can continue to support these efforts. We will have more information for you soon. Rest assured, you can count on NAWBO to stay abreast of developments as they happen and to provide you, our members, and partners with prompt summaries and insightful recommendations for supporting women business owners.
Yours in service,
