V-WISE entrepreneurship program for women veterans announces Lead Star co-founders as national spokeswomen

The Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration, has announced that Lead Star co-founders Angie Morgan and Courtney Lynch have been named honorary spokeswomen for the 2011 Veterans as Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE) program.

Morgan and Lynch are Marine Corps veterans, best-selling authors and co-founders of Lead Star, a business that provides leadership training to corporations and organizations. Both women look forward to advocating entrepreneurship among fellow female veterans, a population in the United States that exceeds 1.8 million.

“In 2010, the SBA reported that the success rate of a veteran-owned business is higher than that of the general population,” says Mike Haynie, national executive director of veteran outreach programs in the Whitman School. “However, many women veterans do not engage in business ownership due to limited access to education and, as a result, startup capital. The V-WISE program was founded in partnership with the SBA as a means to ensure that women veterans have all the tools and resources they need to be successful business owners. We could not be more delighted that Angie and Courtney are promoting our program to this important population in our country.”

V-WISE is an intensive training program positioned to offer world-class, hands-on training in entrepreneurship and small business management to women veterans of any branch and any era of military service—National Guard or Reserves—and also active-duty military who may want to leverage business ownership as their transition from military to civilian life. The V-WISE initiative offers conference-style training that includes comprehensive instruction and mentorship focused on areas such as profit models, business plan development and unique funding opportunities for women veterans.

The inaugural V-WISE program will take place in San Antonio on May 5-7. Subsequent V-WISE programs will be offered in six additional U.S. cities over the next 24 months. All costs, including food, lodging and materials, are fully funded. Participants are only responsible for their transportation to the event and a $75 registration fee.

“Historically, entrepreneurship has been an avenue for our veterans to make a meaningful way for themselves and their families, and ultimately re-engage the economic engine of our nation,” says Lynch. “Angie and I can attest to the benefits of entrepreneurship and we look forward to sharing with other women veterans the resources V-WISE can offer them to launch their businesses.”

V-WISE represents one of the first significant partnerships since World War II among one of the country’s most prestigious business schools, Syracuse University and the federal government specifically focused on opening the doors to entrepreneurial opportunity for female veterans.

The V-WISE program is part of the administration’s “Strengthening Military Families Initiative,” focused on efforts to strengthen and better coordinate federal government support for military families.