2008 DINNER TOPICS/SPEAKERS
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Hedy M. Ratner Co-Founder and Co-President Women's Business Development Center |
Hedy is Co-Founder and Co-President of the Women's Business Development Center (WBDC). The twenty-two year old organization is the largest, oldest and most comprehensive women's business assistance center in the U.S; and has helped over 55,000 women to build and grow their businesses. The WBDC has helped develop women's business assistance programs in six states. WBDC provides counseling, training, financial, certification and procurement assistance for emerging and established women business owners as well as advocacy on women's economic empowerment.
An advocate and activist for women's issues for the past thirty-six years, Hedy was appointed by the President to the National Women's Business Council. She was also appointed by former Illinois Governor George Ryan to the Illinois Development Finance Authority and by Governor Rod Blagojevich to the Illinois Labor Advisory Board and Illinois Business Enterprise Council. She was a founder and appointed member of the Illinois Women's Business Ownership Council and the Governor's Commission on the Status of Women She currently serves as a board member of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau.
Hedy obtained her Bachelor of Science degree from UCLA. Respectively she obtained her Master of Arts. and Master of Science degrees from UCLA, DePaul University and The University of Chicago. Her recent honors include the Lifetime Achievement Award from Rainbow PUSH, the Woman of Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League, the National Leading by Example Award from the Center for Women's Business Research, the Bella Abzug Woman Who Dared Award from the National Organization of Women, and the University of Chicago Alumni Association Public Service Award.