Fran Pastore

CEO

Women's Business Development Council

Fran Pastore is a devoted catalyst of women’s economic equity and the founder and CEO of the Women’s Business Development Council, a leading organization for championing female entrepreneurship and women’s economic equity. Ms. Pastore served a three year term as an appointed member to the President’s National Women’s Business Council (NWBC), an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). She serves on the Board of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP). In conjunction with the U.S. State Department and University of Connecticut’s Office of Global Affairs, Ms. Pastore taught women entrepreneurs in rural Costa Rica financial management and business strategies. In Turkey she served as a US Delegate to 2015 Istanbul Women’s Summit. Most recently she worked with The Center for Creative Leadership in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia teaching young women networking skills, financial management and business development.  She serves on the Advisory Council for The Akilah Institute for Women, a college in in Kigali, Rwanda, Africa.  Over the past two decades, Ms. Pastore has testified before the U.S. Congress on multiple occasions and was instrumental in the passage of legislation benefiting women entrepreneurs.