March 26: The Business of Activism

On March 26, 2019, Kasie and Shennice welcomed Eme Crawford from WREN into the studio. Here are the show notes:

Introductions:

Kasie Whitener, Clemson Road Consulting, DMSB

Shennice Cleckley, Smart Cookie Coaching

Dr. Eme Crawford, WREN

Theme for the day:

Women’s History Month: The Business of Activism

Agenda review:

• Learn more about Eme Crawford’s journey and WREN
• WREN’s legislative agenda regarding women in the workforce
• Activism, non-profit, social good organizations as “business” operations
• This weekend’s event, the Historic Columbia partnership, next week’s Summit

Segment 1:

Let’s learn more about Dr. Crawford. Where are you from? How did you end up in Columbia?

What is WREN? Where did WREN begin? What’s the vision? Share some of the work you’ve been doing with our listeners.

What are some of the daily, weekly, monthly efforts WREN has that our listeners can support or at least be aware of?

Let’s talk legislation. What are some of the issues WREN is working on right now? Specifically, what issues affect women in the workforce? Women entrepreneurs? Women business owners?

Segment 2:

We always say that entrepreneurs answer the “What problem are you solving?” question with their business’s purpose. We’ve done “social good” as a marketing strategy on this program before. But in the case of WREN, social good is the purpose of the organization. You still have the requirements of a business, thought, right?

As a start-up, what kinds of challenges did WREN experience? How did you overcome those challenges?

As you’re growing, what are some of the systems and processes you’ve put into place? What early ideas have you abandoned? What best practices have you adopted?

Segment 3

Your annual event, the Summit, is coming up next week. But the night before, you’re launching a new initiative. Tell our listeners about the Historic Columbia partnership and this initiative. City of Women

How long do you expect the campaign(?) / program(?) to last?

Do you have a dedicated team member for the initiative?

What does WREN hope to accomplish with it?

I imagine programs, initiatives, and events are a little bit like the products and services our entrepreneurs are continually creating, testing, and perfecting. What’s the WREN process for developing a new initiative, program, or event?

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