Omaha, Nebraska – The GROW Nebraska Women’s Business Center is honored to be recognized for graduating in the 2026 cohort with the National WBC of Excellence program offered by the Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC).

The primary objective of the National Women’s Business Center of Excellence designation is to recognize organizations that demonstrate commitment and efficacy of the mission, vision, and values of their Women’s Business Center thereby achieving the greatest outcomes for women-owned businesses.

“I am beyond proud of our 2026 Women’s Business Center of Excellence graduates! Their hard work, focus, and passion for serving women entrepreneurs shine through in every aspect of their operations,” says Klassi Duncan, AWBC Board Chair and Vice President of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CEI) at the Urban League of Louisiana. “Their dedication to excellence will continue to uplift and accelerate the success of women-owned businesses nationwide.”

Over the course of six milestone assignments, WBCs partnered with a peer in their cohort to identify gaps and opportunities for the WBC to improve in a variety of areas; including strategic goal-setting, service delivery, continuous improvement and/or peer relationships. In order to fulfill these objectives, AWBC recognizes the value of the organization’s volunteers, leadership team and funders which is reflected in the involvement of these stakeholders in the final stages of the designation attainment.

 “This cohort of excellence proved to be an invaluable experience. The collaboration, insights, and knowledge gained will be applied meaningfully throughout 2026. Together, as WBCs, we have the opportunity to strengthen this ecosystem into the most valuable resource for entrepreneurs within our communities across the United States,” said Nekola Distefano, Director.

The National WBC of Excellence graduation and closing ceremony took place on December 12, 2025. For more information about our WBC resources, please visit www.gnwbc.org.

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 About The Association of Women’s Business Centers

The Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1998 to support the national network of Women’s Business Centers (WBC) with programming and advocacy. The AWBC works to secure economic and entrepreneurial opportunities for women by supporting and sustaining a national network of over 152 Women’s Business Centers (WBC) in every State in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. WBCs have more than 30-years of success in providing educational training, mentoring, free business counseling, business development, and financing opportunities to over 150,000 women entrepreneurs and small businesses each year. The WBC program is a public-private partnership with the U.S. Small Business Administration. To learn more about AWBC visit www.awbc.org.