NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF WOMEN BUSINESS OWNERS AND WACHOVIA ANNOUNCE THE NAWBO/WACHOVIA WOMAN BUSINESS OWNER OF THE YEAR
New York City-Based Entrepreneur Empowers People Both at Home and Abroad (McLean, Va., May 15, 2007)—The National Association of Women Business Owners® (NAWBO®) and Wachovia will honor Donna Childs, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Childs Capital, LLC, with the 2007 NAWBO/ Wachovia Woman Business Owner of the Year award. Childs will receive the award during NAWBO’s 2007 Annual Women’s Business Conference in Atlanta, Ga., May 31-June 2. The NAWBO/Wachovia Woman Business Owner of the Year Award recognizes the accomplishments of one outstanding woman entrepreneur, who has used creative initiatives to overcome obstacles, create jobs, grow a successful business, and help her community. Donna Childs founded Childs Capital, LLC, a Wall Street financial services firm dedicated to serving the very poorest people in the developing world, in 1999. Childs has worked in areas facing extreme poverty, from rural China to sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to leading her business, Childs now serves as Senior Policy Advisor to the United Nations Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors, bringing further resources to the impoverished people her company serves. “I am impressed by Donna Childs’ exceptional dedication to helping others in times of need,” said Carol Kuc, NAWBO’s national president and president/CEO of Complete Conference Coordinators, Inc., in Naperville, Ill. “I applaud her efforts in becoming a leader and mentor for women entrepreneurs.” With her former experience as a senior executive of the Swiss Reinsurance Company, Childs had developed a sound disaster recovery plan for her business prior to the Sept. 11, 2001 tragedy. Located within Zone 1 of the World Trade Center, Childs Capital, LLC weathered the events of Sept. 11 better than most neighboring businesses: data were backed up and available offsite for remote operations, and the company had comprehensive and cost-effective insurance. Due to its preparedness, Childs Capital, LLC was selected as one of only four companies included in the Ready for Business campaign of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In the aftermath of Sept. 11, Childs provided substantial pro bono assistance to fellow NAWBO members in New York City to help rebuild their businesses. For the past five years, Childs has taught free disaster readiness seminars to small businesses across the country. She has provided technical assistance to women-owned businesses in the Gulf Coast region to aid their recoveries from Hurricane Katrina. She has also reached out to members of the House and Senate small business committees to educate them about the vulnerability of women-owned businesses to disasters.
"We salute Donna and her astounding accomplishments,” said Jenny Ward, vice president and Women’s Market Leader for Wachovia Corporation and nine year corporate partner of NAWBO. “Women like Donna are why Wachovia is so committed to supporting women business owners. Donna's story is similar to many we see, demonstrating that women are highly engaged in not only growing their companies, but also in creating change and a better world for all." About the National Association of Women Business Owners: Founded in 1975, NAWBO propels women entrepreneurs into economic, social, and political spheres of power worldwide. Thirty years later, NAWBO is still the only organization that solely represents the interest of women entrepreneurs in all industries. The organization’s mission is to strengthen the wealthcreating capacity of its members and promote economic development; to create innovative and effective change in the business culture; to build strategic alliances, coalitions and affiliations; and to transform public policy and influence opinion makers. Visit www.nawbo.org for more information. About Wachovia: Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the nation’s largest diversified financial services companies, providing a broad range of retail banking and brokerage, asset and wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services. Wachovia has retail and commercial banking operations in 21 states with 3,400 retail banking offices from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas and California. In addition, two core businesses operate under the Wachovia Securities brand name: retail brokerage with 768 offices in 48 states and service affiliate offices in Latin America, and corporate and investment banking serving clients in selected corporate and institutional sectors globally. Other nationwide businesses include mortgage lending in all 50 states and auto finance covering 46 states. Globally, Wachovia serves clients through more than 40 international offices. Online banking is available at wachovia.com; online brokerage products and services at wachoviasec.com; and investment products and services at evergreeninvestments.com. At March 31, 2007, Wachovia had assets of $706.4 billion and market capitalization of $105.3 billion. --nawbo-Contact: Shawn Taylor Zelman, szelman@nawbo.org Brynn Grumstrup Slate, bslate@nawbo.org 703-506-3268 www.nawbo.org