In honor of National Women's Small Business Month, The 19th is gathering entrepreneurs and business leaders for meaningful conversations about the challenges and opportunities for women, women of color and LGBTQ+ people in business. Where did these leaders find the inspiration to create their businesses, the courage to take a big leap and the support necessary to grow successful companies? What were the obstacles they encountered along the way and what advice do they have for those ready to forge their own path?

Join The 19th’s Economy Reporter Chabeli Carrazana in conversation with U.S. Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman, CEOs Sana Javeri Kadri and Amy Errett with chef Jamie Leeds and investor Arlan Hamilton.

👉 Click RSVP NOW and let us know what questions you have for our panelists.

Isabella Casillas Guzman (@IsabelCGuzman) is the administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), which represents more than 30 million small businesses. Previously, she served as the agency’s deputy chief of staff and senior advisor during the Obama-Biden Administration.

Amy Errett (@AmyErrett) is the CEO and founder of Madison Reed, a beauty brand specializing in hair color. She is also a venture partner at True Ventures, which invests in consumer and e-commerce startups.

Arlan Hamilton (@ArlanWasHere) is the founder and managing partner of Backstage Capital, a fund that is dedicated to minimizing funding disparities in tech by investing in high-potential founders who are people of color, women and LGBTQ+. She is also the author of “It’s About Damn Time.”

Sana Javeri Kadri (@SanaJaveriKadri) is the CEO and founder of Diaspora Co., a direct trade, single-origin spice company dedicated to building a better spice trade.

Jamie Leeds (@JamieLeeds) is an award-winning chef and restaurateur who opened her first restaurant, Hank’s Oyster Bar in DC in 2005. She now runs three under her company the JL Restaurant Group.

Moderated by Chabeli Carrazana (@ChabeliH) is The 19th’s economy reporter. Previously, she worked as a business reporter for the Miami Herald, where she covered the tourism industry, and the Orlando Sentinel, where she covered NASA, the private space industry and labor issues.

Niketa Patel (@Niketa) is The 19th's senior director of partnerships and platforms. Previously, she managed print and digital news partnerships for Twitter US. She serves as a board member of the Online News Association.

All events from The 19th contain professional captioning. While we hope you can watch this event with us live, a video recording will also be available right after the original stream. Just RSVP for access.

Note: our sponsors play no part in the selection of our event participants or programming.

The 19th is an independent nonprofit newsroom reporting at the intersection of gender, politics and policy. We aim to empower women, people of color and the LGBTQ+ community with the information, community and tools they need to be equal participants in our democracy. The 19th aims to level the playing field with:

Free-to-consume and free-to-republish journalism that reimagines politics and policy coverage through a gender lens

Deep-dive, evidence-based reporting that exposes gender inequity and injustice, and reveals surprising and original stories on the issues that most deeply affect our readers’ lives, from health care to the economy

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The 19th's virtual events aim to bring women and people marginalized based on their gender together with elected officials, experts and community leaders to discuss issues at the intersection of gender, politics and policy. Visit 19thnews.org/subscribe to receive invitations for future 19th events.

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