Hosted by: California Women’s Business Centers (CA WBC) Network
Date: Wednesday, May 13, 2026, 8:30 am to 3:30 pm (Opening Reception evening before)
Location: Tsakopoulos Library Galleria, Sacramento, CA
Tickets: Early bird pricing available until April 3rd Click here to purchase

The California Women’s Economic Summit convenes women entrepreneurs, small business support organizations, policymakers, funders, and educators to spotlight how small business ownership — especially women-owned — and women-led businesses are central to women’s economic health, wealth-building, workforce participation, and community stability across California. This one-day statewide gathering elevates data, lived experience, and policy solutions that align entrepreneurship, workforce systems, and public investment to strengthen California’s economy through women-led growth.

The Summit is designed as a platform — not just a conference — to position women’s entrepreneurship as economic infrastructure and ensure its impact is politically defensible, fundable, and impossible to ignore.

Why It Matters

• 40% of California businesses are women-owned, generating more than $580B/year
• Women-owned businesses are growing 2x as fast as male-owned firms nationwide.
• Small business ownership is a key pathway to women’s wealth-building and long-term economic mobility, especially women of color, immigrant entrepreneurs, & rural founders.
• Women-owned and women-led small businesses help close critical gaps in:
  • Childcare supply
  • Workforce shortages
  • Small business continuity
  • Local economic stability

Who Should Attend

• Women entrepreneurs and small business owners
• Women’s Business Centers (Directors, Counselors, Advisors)
• Mission-aligned partners (SBDCs, SCORE, chambers, CDFIs, CBOs)
• State and federal legislators and agency leaders
• Philanthropic and corporate funders
• Educators and workforce development partners
• Economic and community development leaders