Wells Fargo Greenlights Year Three of Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center Peer Support Milestone Circles Program For Women Businesses

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Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center and Wells Fargo expand Milestone Circles program, aiming to serve 4,000 women by next year. Record demand and challenging funding environment drive program's growth. Free program supported by $3.7M investment from Wells Fargo Foundation.

Citing the growing "neighbor effect," 12-week Milestone Circles program sees record demand.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The non-profit Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center and Wells Fargo have announced the third year of the Milestone Circles program, a commitment to serving even more women in year three, while bringing the peer-driven mentorship program to a total of 4,000 women by the end of next year.

Since the program launched in 2021, Milestone Circles has graduated 1,960 women business owners through a peer-led milestone setting program. The program is beginning to scale amidst record demand in a challenging funding environment.

Each 12-week Circles cohort convenes women entrepreneurs from comparable stages or focuses of their companies, bringing participants together biweekly virtually to meet with a group of peers and coach facilitator to share ideas, trade resources, grow their networks and achieve set milestones.

"The changing landscape of access to capital is driving founders to focus on practical, accessible resources in the greatest abundance, with social capital and peers as sounding-boards proving to be the most accessible tools that also serve as a critical confidence-builder," said Nicola Corzine, executive director of the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center. "We're calling this phenomenon the 'neighbor effect,' because people are looking to their right and left for immediate operational support to actualize their biggest dreams. A business owner with a network is more resilient. We believe that this effect is what's driven our Circles program to a waiting list of 6,000 additional female entrepreneurs. Our work is just starting."

This program is free for entrepreneurs and is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Wells Fargo Foundation. Since 2021, the Foundation has invested in over $3.7M towards supporting women entrepreneurs in partnership with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center.

"Milestone Circles is a key piece of our Connect to More^SM program, and it highlights the importance of mentorship and peer support to help accelerate growth and equality for women-owned small businesses," said Jenny Flores, Head of Small Business Growth Philanthropy at Wells Fargo. "We have a long history of supporting women entrepreneurs, and we are very focused on innovating and partnering with organizations that address key challenges to becoming successful business owners."

The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is also unveiling the Capital Pathways Workbook, a first-of-its-kind resource, that helps entrepreneurs build a personalized capital map focused on their vision and financing needs for their business.

Media
Brittany Anthony, 925-451-0769
Brittany.Anthony@wellsfargo.com 

The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center
thecenter@extensionpr.com 

About The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center
The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center is a non-profit committed to growing inclusion and access for entrepreneurs worldwide. The Center meets the real time needs of entrepreneurs through educational programming and then shares its learnings with policy-leaders, capital allocators and academic institutions. For more information please visit: http://thecenter.nasdaq.org/.

About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the U.S., and is a leading middle market banking provider in the U.S. We provide a diversified set of banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 47 on Fortune's 2023 rankings of America's largest corporations. In the communities we serve, the company focuses its social impact on building a sustainable, inclusive future for all by supporting housing affordability, small business growth, financial health, and a low-carbon economy. News, insights, and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.

Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com | Twitter: @WellsFargo

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SOURCE Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center