RepuStaff

For Immediate Release

FORTUNE LAUNCHES MOST POWERFUL WOMEN IN SMALL BUSINESS INITIATIVE

Ten Female Entrepreneurs Chosen to Participate in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit

(New York, September 15)—FORTUNE has chosen ten female small business entrepreneurs to join the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit September 14-16, 2009.

The ten women will join 400 of the country’s most prominent women leaders in business, philanthropy, government, education and the arts for the series of panel discussions, on-stage interviews and interactive sessions over the course of three days in Aviara, California. Three of the women—Lisa Loscalzo, President, The Little Clinic, and Susan Walvius & Michelle Marciniak, co-founders of SHEEX—will join a panel discussion on women in small business along with Karen Mills, Chairman, US Small Business Administration and Susan Sobbott, President, American Express OPEN. Warren Buffett will introduce the panel, which will be moderated by Susan Lyne, CEO Gilt Groupe.

The new program targets entrepreneurial women who are game changers, ground-breakers and innovators in their fields. The ten winners are:

Elizabeth Bennett, Owner, Africa Direct, Denver, CO
Lauren Bush, CEO, Creative Director and co-Founder of FEED Projects LLC, New York, NY
Billie Dragoo, President & CEO, RepuCare Inc./RepuStaff LLC, Indianapolis, IN
Lani Hay, President and CEO, Lanmark Technology, Vienna, VA
Michelle Jones, CEO and President, Entech Consulting Group, Temecula, CA
Lynn Jurich, President, SunRun, Inc., San Francisco, CA
Lisa Loscalzo, President, The Little Clinic, Brentwood, TN
Sheila Lirio Marcelo, CEO, Care.com, Watham, MA
Susan Walvius amd Michelle Marciniak, SHEEX, Chapin, SC
Susan Wilson, Founder & CEO of The Judgment Group, Stevenson, MD

FORTUNE’s Most Powerful Women Summit is the premiere gathering of its kind, bringing together the country’s top women in business.  This year’s theme is Betting on the Future—ideas about the key challenges—technological, geopolitical, and social—that are reshaping our organizations and our world. The program is built around five pillars: Leadership, Innovation, Finance and the Economy, Global Connections, and The Common Good.

American Express OPEN is the Founding Partner of FORTUNE’s Most Powerful Women in Small Business Initiative. FORTUNE and American Express OPEN will celebrate the 10 winners at a special reception at the summit.  

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Media Contacts: Daniel Kile, Director, Public Relations, FORTUNE, 212-522-3640