140 female veterans expected to attend
Women represent approximately 15 percent of active duty military, 20 percent of the reserves, 16 percent of the National Guard and 20 percent of new military recruits. More than 11 percent of United States forces serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are women, and the total female veteran population in the United States and Puerto Rico is 1,853,690. States with the largest number of female veterans are California, Texas, Florida, Virginia and Georgia.
Given these statistics, Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship (V-WISE), one of the first federally funded programs specifically focused on engaging entrepreneurial opportunity for female veterans, was launched by Syracuse University, in partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2010, to open the doors of business ownership to women vets and provide them with tools to become successful entrepreneurs. SU’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) and the SBA will hold the third V-WISE conference March 2-4 at the Westin Lake Mary in Orlando.
V-WISE, founded at SU’s Whitman School of Management and now operated under the auspices of the IVMF, provides cutting-edge, hands-on training to women veterans of any branch and era of military service, including National Guard and Reserve members and active duty military looking to start a business venture during their transition to civilian life. Additionally, the program is open to female spouses/partners of active duty personnel and veterans.
“Our goal from the beginning has been to integrate the leadership, integrity, focus and drive of our nation’s female veterans through educational training with accomplished entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship educators from across the United States,” says Tina M. Kapral, IVMF director of education programs.
V-WISE enables women veterans to find their passion and learn business-savvy skills to turn their ideas or existing businesses into growth ventures. Approximately 140 female veterans will take part in V-WISE Orlando. Participants are responsible for a $75 registration fee and their own transportation, with food, lodging and materials fully funded by the program. V-WISE has three components: a 15-day online course (which concludes this week), 20 hours of instruction during the on-site conference and a post-mentorship/technical assistance program offered through the SBA.
For more information on V-WISE, contact Kapral at 315-443-8795 or tkapral@syr.edu. For admissions questions for V-WISE, or the entire portfolio of veteran entrepreneurship training programs offered by the IVMF, contact Katherine Frontino, IVMF admissions coordinator, at 315-443-8791 or kfrontin@syr.edu.
