The Future is Female: A Conversation with Women Entrepreneurs

Gonzaga University School of Business Administration presents, The Future is Female: A Conversation with Women Entrepreneurs

Small business is the engine of the American economy. Two-thirds of all new jobs created in the last two decades were created by small businesses, and nearly half of all economic activity in the United States during that time is the result of small businesses.

Women entrepreneurs, long under-represented in our conversations about entrepreneurship, play a vibrant and increasingly dominant role in our small business story. Nearly half of all startups in the US in 2021 were created by women — a substantial increase from rates prior to the pandemic — and during the last two decades, the number of women-owned businesses has increased by 114%. In 2022, women-owned businesses contributed more than 1.8 trillion dollars to the US economy.

Women-founded and owned businesses are interesting. They are more likely to have diverse management and founding teams, more likely to invest in the training and development of their workforce, more likely to embrace family and work-life balance-friendly policies and structures, and exhibit higher ESG and social responsibility scores. And yet,

when compared to their male counterparts, women-owned businesses and their founders are also likely to face greater roadblocks to securing financing, higher barriers to entry in certain industries, and differing expectations in balancing their professional and personal lives.

On Thursday, April 11th, join us for a conversation with five dynamic business founders from the Spokane community. We’ll discuss their unique experiences with starting businesses in five very different industries, the opportunities and challenges they feel female entrepreneurs face, and how we can better embrace and nurture would-be women entrepreneurs and champion their successes.

Location: GU Jepson Center, Wolff Auditorium

Lecture and Q&A session 5:00 -6:30 p.m.
Reception begins at 6:30 -7:30 p.m.

Dr. Rachae Bell, Clear Chriopractic (LinkedIn)
Tayna Starkle, Avenue Stone Real Estate (LinkedIn)
Julie Pannell, Fleet Feet Spokane
Maisa Adubdayha, Feast World Kitchen and PantryFuel
Jenny Stuchell, Founder – PantryFuel and Gonzaga Instructor (LinkedIn)

Moderated by Dr. Christopher Stevens, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship

The entrepreneurship lecture is made possible through a permanent endowment established by the Pigott family to educate the next generation of global leaders.