There are a number of international organizations that Canadian entrepreneurs may want to plug into. Please contact WEC if you'd like additional information about WEC relationships with these organizations.

WEC President Ruth Bastedo will be attending an Intercontinental Women's Conference in October 2007, representing WEC in Veracruz, Mexico- hosted by Asociacion Mexicana de Mujeres Empresarias. Conference details are posted at the bottom of this page. For more information on the conference, please visit: www.congresoammjeveracruz2007.com.mx 


NAWBO: National Association of Women Business Owners (US)

The essential community for women business owners. National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) is the voice of America's 10.4 million women-owned businesses. Since 1975, NAWBO has helped women evolve their businesses by sharing resources and providing a single voice to shape economic and public policy.

With 9,000 members and 80 chapters, NAWBO is the only dues-based national organization representing the interests of all women entrepreneurs across all industries.

NAWBO's strength comes from the diversity of its membership.

• Businesses range in size from sole proprietorship to hundreds of employees. 
• Members hail from every business industry, from construction and importers, to retailers and service providers.
• Members represent all areas of the country.

Membership is open to sole proprietors, partners, and corporate owners with day-to-day management responsibility.

Women's Business Enterprise National Council (US)

The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), founded in 1997, is the nation's leading advocate of women-owned businesses as suppliers to America's corporations. It also is the largest third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the United States. WBENC works to foster diversity in the world of commerce with programs and policies designed to expand opportunities and eliminate barriers in the marketplace for women business owners. WBENC works with representatives of corporations to encourage the utilization and expansion of supplier/vendor diversity programs.

Dedicated to enhancing opportunities for women's business enterprises, WBENC works in partnership with women's business organizations located throughout the country to provide a national standard of certification for women-owned businesses. The organization also provides its corporate members and certified women's business enterprises (WBEs) with access to a range of B2B sourcing tools including, an Internet database – WBENCLink – that contains information on certified women's businesses for purchasing managers nationwide. WBENC is a resource for the more than 700 US companies and government agencies that rely on the WBENC certification as an integral part of their supplier diversity programs.

FCEM: World Association of Women Entrepreneurs

FCEM is the pioneer association uniting women business owners from the world over. Founded in France in 1945 at the end of World War II by Yvonne Foinant, and months before the United Nations, the Association quickly spread into other European countries and the four corners of the globe. FCEM brings together in solidarity and friendship, like-minded women who share a common interest, that of entrepreneurship. Today, the FCEM network includes over 60 different countries from the five continents. And FCEM membership is growing, with new demands for membership each year.

FCEM is the acronym for 'Les Femmes Chefs d'Entreprises Mondiales' which in English translates to: World Association of Women Entrepreneurs.