History
1974
Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed Congress & signed by President Ford, made it illegal to deny credit to any person based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age.
1980
Attorney Candace Pollack gathered a group of women biz owners who in 1981 formed the WBOA Women Business Owners Association, the first (and only) organization in Cleveland founded by and for women business owners.
1988
First ever WBO trade show
1989
HR 5050 spearheaded by NAWBO so WBOs could get business loans w/o male cosigner
1990
Second WBO trade show
1990
Successfully generated the Female Business Enterprise (FBE) Program in City of Cleveland, leading to job boards at City Hall that listed upcoming city projects that FBE’s could bid on
1991
Recognized our first Woman Business Owner of the Year, Maria Heckaman, at Crain’s Cleveland Business Luncheon
1992
Cleveland President, Judi Firestone, negotiated to bring WBOA into NAWBO as their first Associate Chapter
1995
Cleveland became a full NAWBO chapter
1996
Hosted National Conference – same weekend as the Cleveland centennial celebration
2006
Regional Conference in Canal Fulton
2008-2010
Chapter lost members due to economic downturn and thus, became a small chapter.
2020
Pandemic – Chapter NEVER LOST A BEAT. Board members created weekly Zoom meetings, and morphed the member & lunch meetings into Zoom meetings.
Chapter wins NAWBO's coveted "Chapter of the Year" award.
2021
Meetings morphed from all Zoom meetings to a hybrid of Zoom/In-person style to accommodate those who are not comfortable returning to large-group settings.
Chapter celebrates their 40th Anniversary. In 40 years, NAWBO Cleveland has demonstrated that they can grow, change and adapt to any circumstance.
2022
Chapter receives NAWBO's coveted "Chapter of the Year" Award for the second year in a row.
2023
Chapter receives NAWBO's coveted "Chapter of the Year" Award for the third year in a row.
2024
Chapter expands geographically to include additional counties and cities to serve more female business owners. Chapter's name changes to NAWBO Northeast Ohio to better represent its valued membership base.
