TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa woman is launching a new nonprofit and hosting a conference to help women become successful entrepreneurs.
The Success Becomes Me conference will be happening on Wednesday and Thursday at the Cox Business Center. Conference founder Bri Seeley said this will be Tulsa's first ever women's wealth conference.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsshow women make up a little more than half of the workforce. Despite that, they're still earning much less than men.
Seeley is familiar with that having grown up with a single mom.
"I watched my mom work 2-3 jobs when I was growing up," she said.
Eventually her mom made a switch that impacted their family for the better.
"My mom became a small business owner when I was 11 and it really started changing the trajectory of her life," Seeley explained.
With that experience and knowledge of women's earning in the workforce, Seeley is now doing her part to create change.
"We believe that economic equity is actually going to be achieved through entrepreneurship and we want to help as many women as possible launch profitable businesses so that they can create that economic equity and financial freedom that they seek," she said.
She's launching a nonprofit known as Infinite HERizons and hosting a two-day women's wealth conference in Tulsa. The conference "Success Becomes Me" will provide women with education, community, and mentorship.
All things guest speaker and business owner Kristen Afelumo said is important to success.
"It's one thing to have an idea and then to let your brain kind of knock it down but it's another thing to be surrounded with a community of people who are forward thinking and also have some tools and a direction to go which is important," said Afelumo.
According to theInstitute for Women's Policy Research, Oklahoma women, 16 and older who work full-time, year-round have median annual earnings of $34,000. That's just shy of 75 (74.6) cents on the dollar compared with men who work full-time, year-round.
The group said if the trends continue, Oklahoma women won't see equal pay until 2076.
It's a staggering statistic they hope to improve, especially considering the stats get worse when you include other factors like race.
"Even for me being in this business for 10 years it's really exciting when I meet another person who looks like me doing what I want to do," Afelumo said. "So it's definitely the case that if you can see someone that looks like you and is where you want to be, it feels more tangible."
If your wondering why Seeley chose Tulsa to host this conference...
"I could have brought it to other places where things like this already existed but it was really important to me I feel like we can make a bigger impact here. I feel like there's more opportunity here because things like this are not yet being done in Oklahoma," Seeley said.
The money raised from the conference will go to Seeley's new nonprofit Infinite HERizons to create 100 scholarships. They'll be available next year to help new entrepreneurs launch their business.
For tickets to the Success Becomes Me conference, click here.
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