A Day in a Life Materials

Association for Women in Science:

A non-profit with a mission of supporting the full participation of women and achieving equity in all disciplines and across all employment sectors of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics). [Journal header: Association for Women in the Life Sciences,

Women in Bio:

WIB is “an organization of professionals committed to promoting careers, leadership, and entrepreneurship for women in the life sciences.” Find local chapters to join, mentoring, career support, and more.

• WIB MAPS: Mentorship, Advisors, Peers, and Sponsorship component of Women in Bio which supports career and personal development, including, help for entrepreneurs.

Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC):

Non-profit supporting full participation of women and achieving equity in all disciplines and across all employment sectors of STEM (Science, technology, engineering, mathematics). Find an AWBC center near you to get training, mentoring, free to low-cost counseling, business development support, and financing opportunities to start, grow, and expand small businesses. Part of the Small Business Administration. See their Innovation and Entrepreneurship advocacy program. Part of the Small Business Administration.

National Women’s Business Council (NWBC):

A federal advisory committee on important issues for women business owners and entrepreneurs. Priorities include access to capital and opportunity, promoting and supporting women’s STEM entrepreneurship via education and capital, and rural women’s entrepreneurship.

SCORE:

A national nonprofit organization with a network of volunteer, expert business mentors for small businesses. Services include free mentoring, webinars, and courses on demand. SCORE originally stood for Service Corps of Retired Executives.

Small Business Administration (SBA):

Small Business Administration: The SBA is a government organization formed to help Americans “start, grow, and build resilient businesses.” They deliver “loans, loan guarantees, counseling sessions, and other forms of assistance to small businesses.” The SBA has many resources for starting a business, such as a learning center, acquiring SBA loans and grants, information on government contracts, resources by business type and location, and the Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program.

Application Assistance Program (AAP):

The Applicant Assistance Program (AAP) of the NIH helps small businesses write and submit Phase I grant proposals, providing coaching and guidance on application needs assessment, preparation, and review. It aims to help under-represented groups—including women, minorities, and people from certain states—achieve SBIR/STTR funding. You must be established as a business with no previous funding. The AAP is available at certain NIH institutes. The application deadline for the AAP is several months ahead of the grant proposal deadline.

I-Corps:

Innovation Corps (I-Corps) is an NIH or NSF program that “provides funding, mentoring, and networking opportunities to help commercialize” biomedical technology. The program lasts eight weeks and is comprised of 24 teams. It supports the transition to Phase III.