Lehigh Valley sponsors 'LaunchBox Ladies: From Passion to Profit'

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — Lehigh Valley LaunchBox (LVLB) now offers an educational event series focusing on the unique challenges and victories of female entrepreneurs called "LaunchBox Ladies: From Passion to Profit."

Using multiple formats including conversational interviews, videos and events, LaunchBox Ladies will share the stories of women at all stages of their businesses and careers. A series of conversations are scheduled through summer 2018 and are free to Penn State Lehigh Valley students and the public on a limited first-come, first-served basis.

All events take place at the Penn State Lehigh Valley campus from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and include lunch.

The first event will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 15, featuring Tanya Wright, best known for her roles as Crystal Burset on the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black," and as Deputy Kenya Jones on HBO’s “True Blood.” She is the author of “Butterfly Rising,” “I Found God in My Hair,” and founder of the hair-care line HAIRiette. She is currently building a philanthropic distribution line of hair-care products and became a micro-grant recipient of Lehigh Valley LaunchBox earlier this year.

Headshot of Tanya Wright

Actress, author and entrepreneur, Tanya Wright,  will be the featured speaker at the first LaunchBox Ladies event on Nov. 15.

Credit: Tanya Wright

She will be interviewed by Ashley Russo, three-time Emmy award-winning executive producer, president of ASR Media Productions, and host of The PEAK TV and St. Luke’s HealthNow. The full 2018 schedule will be announced later this year.

According to the National Association of Women Business Owners, females represent 36 percent of businesses in the U.S. and will generate more than half of the 10 million new small-business jobs by 2018, yet face loan approval rates 20 percent lower than their male counterparts and have decreased access to elected officials.

With a mission of community-facing support for entrepreneurs invested in the economic growth of the Lehigh Valley, LVLB and Invent Penn State develop programming that supports the start-up process. LVLB also acts as a business accelerator by awarding micro-grants biannually.

To register for the event, visit the registration website.

For more information, visit the Lehigh Valley LaunchBox website, email [email protected] or Valerie Peters at [email protected].

Information regarding the Invent Penn State initiative is available online.