FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | December 15, 2025
Livonia, MI – The Great Lakes Women’s Business Council’s Women’s Business Center is honored to be recognized for graduating in the 2026 cohort with the National WBC of Excellence program offered by the Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC).
The primary objective of the National Women’s Business Center of Excellence designation is to recognize organizations that demonstrate commitment and efficacy of the mission, vision, and values of their Women’s Business Center thereby achieving the greatest outcomes for women-owned businesses.
“Becoming a Women’s Business Center of Excellence is an incredible achievement,” says Klassi Duncan, a WBC Board Chair and Vice President of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CEI) at the Urban League of Louisiana. “The work that these graduates have put into the process demonstrates not only their commitment to improving their center’s operations but also their dedication to achieving even more impactful outcomes for the women-owned businesses they serve.”
Over the course of six milestone assignments, WBCs partnered with peers in their cohort to identify gaps and opportunities for the WBC to improve in a variety of areas: including strategic goal-setting, service delivery, continuous improvement, and/or peer relationships. In order to fulfill these objectives, AWBC recognizes the value of the organization’s volunteers, leadership team and funders which is reflected in the involvement of these stakeholders in the final stages of the designation attainment.
“Achieving the WBC of Excellence designation for a second time affirms our commitment to continuous improvement and high-quality service. This recognition strengthens our resolve to support businesses with the tools and guidance they need to grow and sustain success.” Shawntay Dixon, Sr. Director, Education & Program Operations at Great Lakes WBC.
The National WBC of Excellence graduation and closing ceremony took place on December 12, 2025. For more information about our WBC resources, please visit www.greatlakeswbc.org.
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About The Association of Women’s Business Centers
The Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1998 to support the national network of Women’s Business Centers (WBC) with programming and advocacy. The AWBC works to secure economic and entrepreneurial opportunities for women by supporting and sustaining a national network of over 152 Women’s Business Centers (WBC) in every State in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. WBCs have more than 30-years of success in providing educational training, mentoring, free business counseling, business development, and financing opportunities to over 150,000 women entrepreneurs and small businesses each year. The WBC program is a public-private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration. To learn more about AWBC visit www.awbc.org.
Media Contact:
Shelly Hyland
Director of Marketing & Engagement
shyland@greatlakeswbc.org
greatlakeswbc.org
