Silicon Valley

Featured Speaker(s)

Barbara Kasoff is the President and Co-Founder of GrassRoots Impact, Inc. a public policy strategies firm whose mission is to connect Corporate America and Political Leaders to small business owners, including women-owned businesses, minorities, and women in business. Barbara is also the Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Women Impacting Public Policy, Inc., a non-profit, public policy advocacy organization advocating for and on behalf of women in business. WIPP’s mission is to strengthen business women’s sphere of influence in the legislative process of our nation, create economic opportunities for them, and build bridges and alliances to other small business organizations.

For many years, Barbara has been an active supporter for small businesses, and women in business in particular. She continues this work both nationally and internationally. She has linked together hundreds of women with her voice messaging network, enabling them to communicate directly with one another to improve their businesses, learn of programs, opportunities and appointments in the communities, improve the climate of entrepreneurship, and play a part in public policy making. Her efforts to unite various organizations, has enabled small business owners to share information with each other, learn from one another, and become better informed in economic and political issues.

Barbara currently serves on the SCORE Association Board of Directors, a national nonprofit organization of volunteers who counsel small business owners, the National Global Trade and Technology Board of Directors, a national non-profit organization whose mission is to help reverse the long standing trends in balance of trade deficits by making the task of finding, selling and delivering US products and services into global markets as simple as doing business next door, and the Board of Directors of the National Women Business Owners Council, the premier certification agency for women business owners In addition, Barbara has served as President of The National Association of Business Owners in Detroit, Vice President of Public Policy for the national NAWBO organization, and on various community Boards, including: Detroit Edison Community Relations Board, Forgotten Harvest, International Institute and Majority Business Initiative. She has helped develop new and closer relationships with the Michigan District of the Small Business Administration, Small Business Development Centers, Department of Commerce and local corporate leaders. She has also served as a Delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business and was the recipient of the State of Michigan Women in Business Advocate of the Year in 1995. Barbara was one of Michigan’s leading business owners selected to attend President Clinton’s Midwest Regional Economic Summit. Barbara now resides in San Francisco, CA.