There are a lot of things on the chopping block with President Trump’s big bill, not the least of which is funding for women’s business centers throughout the country. Klassi Duncan, VP of entrepreneurship and innovation at the Urban League of Louisiana — which operates two women’s business centers in the region — explains what this loss would mean to Louisiana and shares the 30-second act you can do now to fight back.
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about
Klassi R. Duncan currently serves as Vice President of the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation (CEI) at the Urban League of Louisiana (ULLA), a state-serving National Urban League affiliate based in New Orleans, LA. The CEI provides small business education, counseling services, and access to resources to women and minority entrepreneurs across the state of Louisiana. The Center’s operations include: Women’s Business Resource Center – Greater New Orleans Region, Women’s Business Resource Center – Capital Region, Contractor’s Resource Center, and the Small Business Support Services Center. She also oversees the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Supportive Services Program – Region B (New Orleans/Hammond).
Prior to joining the Urban League of Louisiana, Ms. Duncan served as the Director of Business Support & Evaluation for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program at Delgado Community College, New Orleans, La. In this role, she led the Business Support Services team in providing business advising and technical assistance to small businesses. She also oversaw the program’s Measurement and Evaluation function to capture and assess the critical impact metrics of participating businesses before, during, and after graduation. Prior to this role, she served as a Business Advisor for more than three years in the program.
Ms. Duncan began her professional career as a Buyer at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, where she was responsible for the procurement of various products and services throughout her time with the company, including catalyst internals and IT products and services. In 2008, Ms. Duncan assumed the role of Manager of Supplier Diversity & Sustainability at Covidien, a healthcare manufacturer, in Mansfield, MA. There she was responsible for developing and implementing a strategy and program for the inclusion of small and diverse businesses into the strategic sourcing process, and for working with these businesses to build capacity and increase operational efficiencies. She was also responsible for developing the sustainable sourcing strategy which included product stewardship, materials compliance, and environmentally preferable sourcing policies for various products.
Under her leadership, the Women’s Business Resource Center was awarded the 2024 State Women’s Center of Excellence Award, the 2020 State and Region VI Women’s Center of Excellence Award, the 2019 Region VI Women’s Center of Excellence Award, and the 2017 Women’s Business Champion Award by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Louisiana District Office for their work in promoting and developing women-owned businesses across the region.
