This year marks the 45^th anniversary of NAWBO and the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment, a woman’s right to vote. It’s the perfect opportunity for women business owners to spread the word about our 2020 Public Policy Agenda.

We’ll be walking the steps of the nation’s capital and discussing our three pillars of importance.

• Voter Registration: Getting women registered and out to vote. As a women’s business organization, NAWBO believes there is no time like the present to fulfill our civic duty and cast a ballot asserting our constitutional right to vote. If NAWBO members would like to move positive bipartisan business policy forward, we must elect policymakers with our ideals, and the first step is casting our ballots.
• Census Participation: Through a robust data set, business owners can make better decisions about scaling their business into the next decade by seeing where populations are expanding, specific locations to open new stores, regions to grow business operations, and which products and services to offer. In addition, this effort is the basis for future policy decisions as the data provides a landscape to start economic policy discussions. With NAWBO’s support of the 2020 Census and by increasing our outreach efforts to encourage our communities to participate, we can help ensure a complete and accurate count.
• Business Succession Planning and Retirement: In the 2019 NAWBO Membership Survey,  67% of NAWBO members surveyed stated that they are saving for retirement; however, 58% have not done any succession planning for their business. Policymakers must understand the pitfalls when it comes to retirement and business succession planning for businesses and find ways to ensure that women are just as prepared to enter the workforce as they are to exit the workforce.

Prior to walking the halls of Congress, on June 1, 2020, NAWBO members will have a half day opportunity to receive valuable training to help make sure their meetings are met with results. We will explain how to start a dialogue about the three pillars, what are some sample questions to engage members and their staff, and how to get the new to advocacy jitters out of your system!

Then, on June 2, 2020, we will meet with key leaders from both political parties and provide NAWBO members the opportunity to start or strengthen their connections with the people elected and appointed in the nation’s capital.