NEW YORK—The Philippine Consulate General in New York hosted in June the “WE Master Money Conference: Get Your Business Funded,” organized by the Women Entrepreneurs NYC (WE NYC), an initiative of the NYC Department of Small Business Services dedicated to empowering and helping women start and grow their business.
In his remarks, Consul General to New York Claro S. Cristobal welcomed more than 80 women coming from the diverse NYC community. Most of them were either in the early stages of their businesses, are looking to expand their enterprise or interested in opening one.
Cristobal expressed his hope that Filipino and Filipino-American women would take advantage of the WE NYC programs and what the city offers, emphasizing that with New York being the world’s media capital, it is a good place to build their personal and business brands.
The one-day conference afforded participants the opportunity to get practical and inspirational insights from the distinguished women entrepreneurs and mentors. Ramona Cedeno, founder of FiBrick Financial Services—a certified minority and women-owned business enterprise (MWBE) accounting practice—talked about elements potential investors and lenders are looking for prior to making a decision to invest in a company.
Tuesday Brooks, founder of Ajoy Consulting, spoke about the conventional and alternative sources of funding that they can tap into. Precious Williams, founder of Perfect Pitches by Precious, revealed the art and science of the “killer” pitch that will help them “slay all competition” and keep their business top of mind.
Meanwhile, Sanja Jhankar, cofounder of Luminoustudios, demonstrated the creation of effective and high-quality videos for a successful crowdfunding campaign. Katie Klencheski, founder of SMAKK Studios, instructed on telling their story in a way that defines the brand’s value, connects to the audience and explains differential advantage from competitors.
Free one-on-one credit consultations were also offered throughout the day, where participants consulted with volunteer financial counselors and received personalized assistance on building, repairing and improving their personal credit standing.
WE NYC Director Diana Franco and Deputy Consul General Kerwin Orville Tate cohosted the conference. The collaboration of the consulate and WE NYC was born out of the success of the WE Empower Fil-Am Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum organized by the consulate general in April 2019. DFA