Are you an entrepreneur looking to secure funding for your business or startup? Join us for our monthly engaging and informative session: Lunch & Learn – Empowering Small Businesses with Access to Capital.

Securing capital is often a major challenge for many aspiring business owners, but with the right knowledge and guidance, you can navigate the funding landscape with confidence. These office hours are designed to provide you with valuable insights, practical strategies, and expert advice on accessing capital to fuel the growth of your business.

During this interactive session, you will have the opportunity to ask your access to capital questions to Gwen Wright, an industry expert, to help you secure funding. Gwen will share experiences, discuss various funding options, and shed light on the key considerations and best practices for accessing capital.

Facilitator:

Gwendolyn Wright

Gwendolyn Wright is the Managing Consultant of The Wright Consultants. Her mission is to start and grow businesses, increase entrepreneurs’ access to capital and improve their financial acumen. She has extensive experience, from ecommerce, retail and wholesale to manufacturing and distribution, consulting and coaching small and medium size businesses for over twenty years. She has earned a reputation for having a contemporary management style, combining finance, marketing, and project management skills with entrepreneurial vision and discernment. She works well with companies in various stages of development from start-up to planned growth. She is excellent with creating sales and business development strategies. Sweet spots of focus include the food industry (restaurants and cafes, specialty retailers and small craft foods and beverages) and fashion industry (designers and tech, apparel, and accessories- especially jewelry). Clients are located nationwide from San Francisco to New York City. International projects include Italy, Cambodia and Australia. Continuous market research and trend analysis has taken her around the globe to London, Hong Kong, Beijing, Panama, Johannesburg, Accra, Paris and Tokyo. She was awarded the Small Business Finance Advocate of the Year Award by the Small Business Administration and participated in a congressional trade mission to South Africa and Ghana with Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Education includes Bachelor of Arts, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio, Graduate study, Business Administration, Golden Gate University, San Francisco, Commercial Lending Graduate School, Corporate Banking Division, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma. She is one of the best small business consultants and coaches in the industry!

There is a new way to register! You can now register using your client profile. By setting up a client profile, you will not have to fill out the same personal information for each workshop you register for, making it faster and easier in the long run! 

a)  If you already have a Client Portal Profile, click the Register button below.

• In the Client Portal, go to the Calendar tab (top left) and select Lunch & Learn: Empowering Small Businesses with Access to Capital (WBC), click enroll, answer the questions, and submit! You will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link.

b) If you don’t have a Client Portal profile, create one at this link. Make sure to use the same email address you have used in the past with Renaissance. You may change it later, but this allows our system to recognize you. 

If you already have an intake form on file, you’ll see the Calendar tab in the top left.

If you do not, you will need to fill one out before you can see the Calendar tab. It may also ask you to update your information.  The user interface isn’t perfect, so make sure to scroll up and keep clicking “Continue” or “Sign” in order to complete the forms. If you have any problems during this, please contact Isla Covarrubias at wbc@rencenter.org.

Once the Calendar tab is visible, you can register by going to your profile’s calendar tab and selecting Lunch & Learn: Empowering Small Businesses with Access to Capital (WBC), hit enroll, answer the questions and submit! You will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom link.

You can also watch this video that will show you step by step how to create the Client Portal

Client Portal Profile – DEMO

If you have any questions about the class or you have problems with creating a client profile, please do not hesitate to email wbc@rencenter.org!

Renaissance WBC is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions, or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the SBA. All SBA programs or cosponsored programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made, if requested, at least 2 weeks in advance. Contact: Isla, Isla@rencenter.org, (415) 348-6227