The Inaugural Catalyst Symposium at Trinity College celebrated innovation, empowerment, and entrepreneurial success for Connecticut women.
HARTFORD — Close to 200 business leaders, officials, and entrepreneurs convened Tuesday at Trinity College’s Mather Hall for the Women’s Business Development Council’s inaugural Catalyst Symposium — a half-day event featuring networking, workshops, and a $100,000 live pitch competition that awarded four women-owned businesses with $25,000 WBDC Accelerate Grants.
In what is to become an annual event, the inaugural Catalyst Symposium focused on connection, inspiration, and action, equipping women entrepreneurs with tools, strategies, connections, and inspiration to launch, grow, and sustain thriving small businesses. The symposium began with networking and the WBDC Marketplace, which featured WBDC clients from across Connecticut showcasing and offering their products for sale.
The event included six different business breakout sessions led by WBDC experts and business leaders, covering topics such as the steps to create a business plan, launch a new business, secure funding, drive business growth, and how to pay yourself as an entrepreneur.
The main attraction of the Catalyst Symposium was the live pitch competition, in which eight women entrepreneurs competed for one of four $25,000 Accelerate Grants. Each finalist was a previous WBDC grant recipient who has demonstrated revenue growth as a direct impact of receiving WBDC grant funding.
Each of the finalists had 5 minutes to demonstrate how the grant would advance their business. The winners were decided by a panel of three judges: Marian Andoh Clarke, Director of Small Business Development at Hartford Chamber of Commerce; Gabriela Rosado, Senior Underwriter at Libertas; and Danielle Ruggiero, Senior Director of Programs at WBDC.
The grant recipients were announced by WBDC CEO Fran Pastore. “This event, which brings together entrepreneurs from around the state to learn from WBDC, and from each other, is something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time,” said Pastore. “To have it culminate with the Accelerate pitch competition, with the inspiring presentations of each of our eight finalists, made the day that much more impactful.”
Accelerate Grant Winners
Monica Beaudoin & Alexandra Pilon
Bloom Bake Shop, Hartford
Sadie Marshall
Sadie’s Professional Cleaning Services, Hamden
Tammy Gerhard & Sarah May
Silk City Coffee, Manchester
Priscilla Igram & Christine Orlando
The Studio Fairfield, Fairfield
Four past Accelerate Grant winners also addressed the audience to share their stories and how the $25,000 grant has impacted their business. These women entrepreneurs included:
- Dr. Barbara Dune, Owner, Serenity I Care, Hartford
- Amy Leigh, Owner, String Theory School of Music, New London
- Dr. Jen Morgan, Owner, Centrality Physical Therapy and Wellness, Darien and Guilford
- Laurie Surprenant, Co-Owner, Leaps and Bones Pet Supply & Bakery, Southington and South Windsor
Other speakers at the event included Libertas President and Chief Operating Officer John P. Paradisi, WBDC Chief Operating Officer Brenda Thickett, and WBDC Chief Financial & People Officer Tasha Jackson.
About the Women’s Business Development Council
The Women’s Business Development Council’s (WBDC) mission is to support economic prosperity for women and strengthen communities through entrepreneurial and financial education services that create and grow sustainable jobs and businesses across Connecticut. WBDC educates, motivates, and empowers women to achieve economic independence and self-sufficiency. Since 1997, WBDC has educated and trained over 21,700 clients in all of Connecticut’s 169 towns—helping women to launch, sustain, and scale over 16,250 businesses, create and maintain more than 40,350 jobs in Connecticut, and access over $86 million in capital. Since 2020, WBDC has provided more than $19 million in grants to help fuel growth in small businesses throughout Connecticut. Visit ctwbdc.org for more information.
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