Global Black Voices: News from around the World
- Women Who Influence launches the Power Seat and a 12-week Business Accelerator to connect entrepreneurs to education, relationships, and resources.
- The Power Seat panel features Delia Awusi, Sherri Lane, Ka-wana Jefferson, and Jessica Spaulding on capital access, contracting, and sustainability.
- Founder Gabrieline Reece emphasizes practical access, helping entrepreneurs qualify for, reach, and use institutional opportunities rather than just visibility.
Small-business owners will sit alongside Brooklyn’s borough president and city economic development officials this month at an event organizers say is designed to turn recognition into real opportunity.
Women Who Influence, a nonprofit founded in 2021, will host the Power Seat at the 2026 Pink Apple Awards on Thursday, Oct. 22, at Brooklyn Borough Hall. The daylong program runs from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and will include opening remarks from Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and NYC Economic Development Corp. Chief Operating Officer Jeanny Pak.
Founder and Executive Director Gabrieline Reece said the organization’s mission grew out of a gap she saw among underrepresented entrepreneurs.
“How do we connect entrepreneurs to education, relationships and resources and into institutional opportunities?” Reece said in an interview ahead of the event.
That question took shape after the organization surveyed 2,000 women and received 347 responses, leading to a listening session that shaped its current programming, including the new Power Seat panel and an upcoming 12-week Business Accelerator Growth Program.
“Women are looking for visibility in spaces that we are not usually welcome to because we don’t have the right connection,” Reece said.
The Power Seat panel will bring together Delia Awusi, NYC Mom-and-Pop Czar; Sherri Lane of the city’s Department of Small Business Services; Ka-wana Jefferson, owner of Sweet Catch BK; and Jessica Spaulding, founder of Harlem Chocolate Factory, for a discussion on capital access, contracting opportunities and the realities of sustaining a small business.
Reece said she wants the event to push past surface-level conversation between entrepreneurs and institutions.
“I want access that isn’t just knowing that a resource exists,” she said. “Access is being able to understand the reach, qualify for it and actually use it.”
The Pink Apple Awards ceremony will follow at noon, honoring Pamela Morgan, Kanchana Suggu, Dr. Erica Ford and Cynthia Horner for leadership and community impact. A Leadership Networking Reception sponsored by PNC Bank will close out the day.
Reece said this year’s event marks a shift from the organization’s earlier, more traditional gala format.
“We’re not just creating a beautiful room anymore,” she said. “We’re asking what can happen because we brought these people into their room.”
Since its founding, Women Who Influence has recorded more than 1,800 program attendances. Reece said the work is far from finished.
“We’re building some ecosystem that opens the door for individuals like myself who never had the opportunity to enter these rooms,” she said. “And we’re not stopping.”
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