WEBINAR: MWBE - Winning Bids & Contracts - New York Women in Business

Are you a minority or woman-owned business seeking government contracts?

MWBE, WBE, and MBE (Minority/Women Business Enterprise) programs prioritize minority and women-owned businesses for procurement contracts with city, state, and federal government and many publicly-traded companies. These contracts can change the trajectory of your business, but they are not entitlements or even right for everyone.

Do you know which certification is right for your business and how to actually win contracts you qualify for?

Increase your chances of success and start winning contracts! Join us for this SCORENYC/NYWIB webinar to hear experts and successful small business owners talk about how contracts are awarded and how to be more likely to win them.

Learn from the best and take your business to the next level!

Thursday, June 29, 2023

@3:00-5:00 PM ET

Via Zoom

Register now

The webinar and networking are free but you must register in advance and attend if you would like to ask questions.

Men are always welcome to attend.

Donations of $10 or more to NYWIB are welcome and appreciated, but not required. CLICK here if you would like to donate to support NYWIB’s mission and programs.

Who should attend

Any minority or woman-owned business looking to break into the government contracting space.

What you will learn

During this two-hour webinar, you will listen to an eye-opening conversation between two experts with years of experience guiding entrepreneurs through the MWBE certification process. Hear insider tips and tricks on how to navigate the complex world of government contracting and increase your chances of winning bids.

After their conversation, a panel of successful MWBE entrepreneurs will share their firsthand experiences and insights on how they won government and business contracts. Get valuable advice on how to stand out from the competition and secure those coveted contracts. You will also learn about opportunities in the private sector.

By the end of this event, you will be able to:

Understand the MWBE certification process and how it can benefit your business
Identify lucrative government and private sector contracting opportunities
Effectively market your business to government agencies and corporations
Prepare your business to handle contracts you win
Build strong relationships with purchasing decision-makers

Agenda

A Fireside Chat between Francisco Guzman and Angelina Ramirez

Francisco Guzman, former Director of Small Businesses for the Harlem Community Development Corporation, and Angelina Ramirez, Founder and CEO of the Amblyn Group and MWBE Strategies who have deep expertise in MWBE certifications. Hear them talk about the MWBE process, how businesses actually win opportunities and how to market your business successfully and deliver on bids and contracts.

Panel Discussions

Four entrepreneurs will share their insights on how they won competitive contracts with city, state, and publicly-held organizations and scaled their businesses. The Executive Director for Supplier Diversity & Sustainable Sourcing at Morgan Stanley will talk about opportunities in the private sector. Tune in to this insightful discussion.

Speakers

Francisco Guzman, SCORE Mentor

Francisco is the former Program Director of Small Business for the Harlem Community Development Corporation, program architect with vast experience in short- and long-term planning; experienced in guiding startup businesses seeking business opportunities with government agencies; ample knowledge in the construction industry. He is now a SCORE mentor.

Angelina Ramirez, Founder, CEO, Principal, Amblyn Group and MWBE Strategies; Podcaster, MWBE Times

Angelina founded the Amblyn Group, a minority and woman-owned firm focused on helping businesses with their MWBE certification and business development needs. She also started MWBE Times, a podcast on MWBE strategies. Prior to this, she had 20 years of experience in strategic planning, brand management, and marketing communications for Fortune 200 companies, start-ups, and nonprofits.

Panelists

Rud Morales, Founder, VP of Operations, Fortis Contractors

Rud is a licensed general contractor in the state of NY, NJ and PA. and the only Dominican Woman General Contractor from Harlem to Marble Hill. Her professional experience includes all aspects of construction projects, including project programming and schedules, site analysis, construction documents, permit processing, construction administration, construction build out and sign off.

Founded in 2017, Fortis Contractors is a diverse minority construction firm (MWBE ) headquartered in New York City, with licensees in New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. It has become one of the most trusted construction firms for government projects. Some of her most recently awarded contracts include Kings County Brooklyn Court, Delta Terminal at JFK, The George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal with NY/NJ Port Authority, and Caumsett State Historic Park for New York State Park Department.

Part of the Mentorship Program with the MTA, Rud serves as the Women in Construction Ambassador for New York Build Expo. Rud is building her first affordable housing project in New Jersey. Her commercial project list Includes American Dream Mall in New Jersey, Haagen Daaz, Red Mango, Gateway Newsstand, Sarah Jessica Parker Stores, Dominican Women Development Center, restaurants and supermarkets.

Dr. Adedolapo (Dolly) Olurinde, Founder, Rehoboth Care, Inc

Dr. Olurinde has a Doctorate degree in Physical Therapy from Widener University Pennsylvania. She has been a Physical therapist since 1994 and specializes in pediatrics. She has a passion to educate all children, especially those with developmental disabilities and started an integrated and specialized nursery school.

Rehoboth Care Inc. is an MWBE organization that has been in existence since 2010. It has multiple contracts with the NYC DOE to provide free 3-K, PRE-K, city wide school age assessments and Special class in integrated settings at the center.

Rehoboth Care is also an approved NYS Early Intervention Agency, a Licensed Home Care Service Agency, and also provides high-quality childcare and educational services to the general public. We provide Enhanced Group developmental, ABA, Occupational, Physical, and Speech therapy services to children onsite and offsite.

Shendora Pridgen, Executive Director for Supplier Diversity and Sustainable Sourcing, Morgan Stanley

Shendora Pridgen’s career started in 1997 as an Analyst in the Sourcing Department at Morgan Stanley. While obtaining her bachelor’s degree, majoring in operations management at Baruch College, she advanced in her career and is currently the Executive Director, Global Head of Supplier Diversity. In this role, she leads the Firm’s efforts to seek out diverse-owned companies, fostering strategic business relationships. Shendora’s extensive experience in the Procurement field has allowed her to actively monitor the inclusion of Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprises in the Procurement bidding process. Shendora also oversees the Morgan Stanley Small Business Academy, which is an educational component of the Supplier Diversity Program in partnership with the Institute for Inclusion.

In 2022, Shendora was given the Advocate of the Year Award by the New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council. Due to Shendora’ s efforts, Morgan Stanley was listed as one of the 2022 Best of the Best Supplier Diversity Programs by the US Veterans Magazine. Also, the 2021 WE 100 Corporations of the Year by the Women’s Enterprise USA magazine, and the 2020 and 2019 All-Stars of Supplier Diversity by the Minority Business News USA magazine. Shendora is a strong advocate for diversity; in 2019 she received the NY Women’s Chamber of Commerce’s New York Women of Excellence Award as an advocate for women-owned businesses. These are just a few of her many accolades.

Jaclyn Tacaronte, Founder, JMT Media

Jaclyn is an award-winning marketing and public relations professional with over 18 years of experience in both agency and client-side settings, serving Fortune 500 companies, including Canon, Puma, Harley-Davidson and Proctor & Gamble. She is currently the CEO & President of JMT Media, LLC., a New York certified M/WBE boutique marketing, public relations and design firm.

Among her professional recognitions, in 2011 she was awarded TED Electrical Magazine’s Best-of-the-Best Marketing Excellence Award for Best Print Advertising Campaign. JMT Media was listed as an official 2018 Honoree for Stars Under 40, sponsored by Schnepps Communications. In 2019, the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation listed Jaclyn Tacoronte as a “40 Under 40” Honoree and a nominee for the 2019 “Fastest Growing Small Business”. The 2020 U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA), New York District Office New York Small Business Champion of the Year.

Nancy Vargas, Founder and CEO, DH2 Chauffered Transportation

Nancy is an experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the ground transportation industry. Skilled in Operations Management, Customer Service, Sales, Business Development, and Marketing Strategy. Strong business development professional with an Associate’s degree focused on Business Administration, Management and Operations from Berkeley College.

DH2 Limo provides limousines and shuttles for the Port Authority of NY and NJ

Other panelists being confirmed and will be announced in coming weeks.

You will get the link to the event in your confirmation email after you register.

This event is presented by SCORE NYC/ NYWIB in collaboration with Accompany Capital and funding from the Amplify Fund – A project of the M&T Charitable Foundation.

By registering you’ll be subscribed to SCORE NYC/ NYWIB and Accompany Capital’s email lists.

SCORE is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.