AWBC Celebrates 2026 Women's Business Centers of Excellence - Association of Women's Business Centers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – AWBC is honored to celebrate and recognize 18 Women’s Business Centers (WBCs) for graduating in the 2026 cohort of the National WBC of Excellence program.
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.

“I am beyond proud of our 2026 Women’s Business Center of Excellence graduates! Their hard work, focus, and passion for serving women entrepreneurs shine through in every aspect of their operations,” says Klassi Duncan, AWBC Board Chair and Vice President of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CEI) at the Urban League of Louisiana. “Their dedication to excellence will continue to uplift and accelerate the success of women-owned businesses nationwide.”

Over the course of six milestone assignments, WBCs partnered with a peer 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.

The 2026 Women’s Business Centers of Excellence are as follows:

Capitol Region Women’s Business Center
CEI Women’s Business Center Northeast
CEI Women’s Business Center South
Central Indiana Women’s Business Center
Great Lakes Women’s Business Council WBC
Greater Wealth Works WBC
GROW Nebraska Women’s Business Center
Maryland Women’s Business Center
Mi Casa Resource Center WBC
Mujeres Latinas Unidas Foundation WBC
Northeast Indiana Innovation Center (NIIC) Women’s Business Center
Prestamos Women’s Business Center
ROC Women’s Business Center
Washington Center for Women in Business
WBC at Cornerstone Alliance
Western Women’s Business Center
weVENTURE Women’s Business Center
Women’s Business Center at JEDI

The National WBC of Excellence graduation and closing ceremony took place on December 12. For more information on how to find a Women’s Business Center, please visit www.awbc.org.

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 (WBCs) with programming and advocacy. AWBC works to secure economic justice and entrepreneurial opportunities for women by supporting and sustaining a national network of nearly 150 Women’s Business Centers in every U.S. state 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.