Wells Fargo Collaborates with Diverse Chambers of Commerce on New Chamber Leadership Development Program

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WASHINGTON — This week an alliance of diverse chambers of commerce, in collaboration with Wells Fargo, launched a new Chamber Leadership Development Program to support diverse entrepreneurs in the U.S. The alliance includes the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, the U.S. Black Chambers Inc., the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation.

The diverse business communities represented by the alliance of chambers account for an annual estimated contribution of more than $3 trillion to the U.S. economy. The Chamber Leadership Development Program is aimed at educating and developing leaders of diverse state and local chambers of commerce to support diverse entrepreneurs. The program also will include university partners and will affect more than 400 chamber leaders through innovative programming designed to empower chamber leaders to better serve their local communities of diverse businesses.

“Diverse businesses are growing across the United States,” said Regina Heyward, senior vice president and head of supplier diversity at Wells Fargo. “Through the Chamber Leadership Development Program, Wells Fargo sees an opportunity to strengthen diverse leaders within the small business community and to support local chambers in capacity building.”

In 2019, the program will be offered to chamber leaders at the conferences of each of the alliance of diverse chambers organizations. The first session will be held at the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation CelebrASIAN Procurement + Business Conference in Houston, Tx, June 4–5. It will be followed by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce International Business and Leadership Conference in Tampa, Fla., Aug. 12–13; the U.S. Black Chambers National Conference in National Harbor, Md., Aug. 19–20; and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce National Convention in Los Angeles, Ca, Sept. 28–29.

In addition to these in-person sessions, there will be two virtual sessions in 2019.

“The Chamber Leadership Development Program is an important step in strengthening our local diverse chambers across the U.S.,” said National LGBT Chamber of Commerce Co-Founder and President Justin Nelson. “With stronger diverse chambers in each city, we are able to provide more opportunity for local diverse business owners, concurrently strengthening local economies and increasing the ability for diverse business owners to scale their enterprises —underscoring our importance to the small business engine that makes the U.S. economy run.”

Ron Busby, U.S. Black Chambers president & CEO, noted, “The Chamber Leadership Alliance develops and empowers diverse chamber leaders while providing unique educational opportunities on how to grow and build their local organizations for the benefit of its small business community members.”

Susan Au Allen, National President and CEO of the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation, said, “We are proud to be a stakeholder in the Chamber Leadership Alliance, a collaboration spearheaded by Wells Fargo, that addresses critical nonprofit business organization leadership gaps in our diverse business communities. Our shared vision is to cultivate chamber leaders who will become innovators, beacons, and change agents — thus collectively building a framework for sustainable business growth and success for our respective constituents and the wider community.”

Ramiro Cavazos, U.S Hispanic Chamber of Commerce president and CEO said, “The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce is proud of our intersectional partnership with other alliance members, and we are excited about the benefits this will bring to all of our members. With sponsors such as Wells Fargo, we reaffirm our its commitment to Hispanic- and diverse-owned businesses to provide resources for our community that are just as timely as they are innovative.”