Page 8
March 6, 2024
Amanda Mailey Photo credit M. Martinez Photo
Find Progressive News at
Advancing Female
Entrepreneurship in Oregon
Addressing How
to Empower
and Financially
Support Women
Founders
www.portlandobserver.com
“Confident As We Continue in the
Blessed Assurance of God”
Isaiah 43:1b-3a; 5a (NIV)
Guest speaker
BISHOP GARRY L. TYSON
ALIST LLC, a local, Filipi-
na-owned marketing and busi-
ness consultancy, will host its
inaugural The Boss-A-Thon
fundraiser on March 20th, during
Women’s History Month, to ad-
vance female entrepreneurship in
Oregon. Held at Akadi, a Black
woman-owned, West African
restaurant in southeast Portland,
the fundraiser will address how
best to empower and financially
support women founders. Ac-
cording to American Express’s
State of Women-Owned Busi-
nesses Report, businesses owned
by women-of-color have grown
by 43 percent from 2014 to 2019.
Funds raised at the event will
benefit ALIST’s WSW (Women
Supporting Women) Community
GBCNW PRESIDENT
Fund which aims to support this
historic growth, and to subsidize
the collective women-owned,
small
business
community
throughout the state of Oregon.
Amanda Mailey, Owner of
ALIST, will serve as the key-
note speaker. Panelists include
Tamara Brown, Vice President,
Relationship Banking Officer at
Heritage Bank NW and Kaysha
Duffy, Director of Impact at On-
Point Community Credit Union.
The discussion will be facilitated
by Zanele Mutepfa-Rhone, a Zim-
babwean-born culture and diver-
sity specialist, speaker, activist,
and philanthropist. Guests will
be welcomed by Karen Foster,
Owner of KF Curates, a Black and
Caribbean-owned event strategy,
execution, and consulting agency
partnering with ALIST to design
this women-of-color-led fundrais-
er. The event is open to the public
and all are welcome.
“The City of Roses is a hotbed
for women entrepreneurs, but
there are very few organizations
addressing and supporting this
population as a whole. My goal
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is to define an equitable busi-
ness model, or ecosystem, that
supports marginalized business
owners. Women-of-color entre-
preneurs are under resourced,
and I feel a dep civic responsibil-
ity to change that by collectively
raising funds to support the col-
lective body of women founders
in our region. With The Boss-
A-Thon, I want to bring wom-
en founders, allies, and local
changemakers to rally together
around this vital cause to make
a bigger impact,” said Amanda
Mailey, Owner of ALIST.
The Boss-A-Thon will raise
awareness on the impact wom-
en-of-color-led businesses have
on the economy, the traditional
and innovative funding practices
available, the new systems de-
signed to connect and empower
women-identifying leaders, and
reframing cause-based invest-
ing to include for-profit wom-
en-owned companies serving mar-
ginalized communities.
Held from 5 to 9 p.m. on March
20th at Akadi at 1001 SE Divi-
sion, Mailey hopes to gather 65
of Portland’s top changemakers to
share resources, exchange ideas,
and inspire cross-collaboration,
with the shared goal of supporting
financial growth in female entre-
preneurship. A four-course dinner
from Akadi with wine pairings
will be presented by Executive
Chef and Owner, Fatou Ouattara
herself. Tickets for The Boss-A-
Thon are $150.00/per person.
“’Shop local’ and ‘shop BIPOC’
are important calls-to-action, but
this inaugural event showcases
much more than that. Investing
in BIPOC-owned businesses is a
strategy to build equity in power
and leadership in the world. My
mission is to unite this population
to rise together and increase the
possibility of business maturity
here in Oregon,” added Mailey.