Dr. Terry Neese, Founder & CEO
DR. TERRY NEESE is founder and CEO of the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW). She leads the organization to accomplish its mission via two programs, both domestic and international training for women business owners in the area of public policy and entrepreneurial education.
PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS – educates and empowers women entrepreneurs in developing countries to achieve their dream of financial independence and community involvement as a woman owned business. Since its creation in 2007, the program has trained over 100 women entrepreneurs in Afghanistan and Rwanda.
Empowering Women – a book and training program authored by Terry that encourages women business owners to affect change through involvement in public policy. Training sessions were held in Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, and West Palm Beach in 2008.
Founder of Terry Neese Personnel Services, Terry is a past national president of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), the largest women’s association of its kind. Terry’s involvement with women business owners and family issues is well documented through her participation in the following:
- Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP); Co-Founder and Past President – WIPP joins together a membership across the nation totaling over half-million women entrepreneurs and executives and serves as a voice for women in business at the United States Capitol.
- National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA); Distinguished Fellow – Terry headed the organization’s Family Policy Center from 2008 to 2009. In that role, Terry develops policy ideas that can help women, families, and small businesses keep more of their earned money and time, and make better financial and health choices. In addition, she conducts bipartisan briefings on family issues with congressional leaders and their staffs and has regularly testified before the U.S. House and Senate.
A successful businesswoman, Terry made history in 1990 when she became the first woman nominated by a major political party for the seat of Lt. Governor of Oklahoma. She was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the “Power 30” – the most influential small businesspersons in Washington, D.C. She was named an Outstanding Business Leader by Northwood University Board of Trustees in 2006.
Terry is recognized as a national expert on economic issues that affect women and families. Her articles have been published in the Chicago Sun-Times, Entrepreneurial Women Magazine, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Journal Record, the Oklahoman, Washington Examiner, and the Washington Times. Terry is a recurring guest on Fox News, CNN, CNBC, SBTV, as well as on local TV and radio stations.
Terry has been appointed to numerous councils and positions by Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, including:
- U.S.-Afghanistan Women’s Council, with which she traveled to Afghanistan in 2007
- National Advisory Council on Indian Education
- Small Business Advisory Council (under the U.S. Small Business Administration)
- National Women’s Business Council (a bipartisan federal government council created to serve as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President and Congress)
- Director of the United States Mint
- Advisory Council for the United States Committee for United Nations Development Fund for Women
Terry is married to Earl N. Neese. Their daughter, Kim Neese, is CEO of Terry Neese Personnel Services and is the proud mom of Emily and Erin. They all reside in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
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Lin Weigel, Director of Development
LIN WEIGEL is the Director of Development for the Institute. Raised in Oklahoma, Lin comes to the Institute with an experienced entrepreneurial spirit and strategic planning background. Owning and operating seven ServiceMaster franchises for 11 years in the Oklahoma City area, she hit the ground running, going from an initial 2 employees to over 75 employees. During the first year, she received the Gold Eagle Rookie of the Year award for the highest volume. The business collected every award ServiceMaster offered on a state, regional, and national basis. Due her success in all milestones of quality, service, and leadership, ServiceMaster bestowed the responsibility and honor of Oklahoma Master Franchise for 2 years before she sold the business.
Lin became involved in the Oklahoma Wing Civil Air Patrol as a community service volunteer, providing for youth leadership and mentorship. She soon found herself working at the state level in administrative and finance areas as State Finance Officer, where she managed the Wing’s assets and implemented procedures that are still being used today. Learning to manage and motivate volunteers is a skill she perfected during her time at Civil Air Patrol bringing her the Metorius Service Award and the Commander’s Accommodation for her continuing service with the youth programs. Women business owners hold a special place in Lin’s heart. She worked her way to the Executive Director position of an SBA Women’s Business Center in Oklahoma City where mentorship, business education, networking, and financial opportunity for women entrepreneurs were nurtured and cultivated.
As Director of Development, Lin has the vision, drive, and focus to bring to life the mission of international women business programs to the forefront of public policy. “I feel as if all of my life experiences have been designed to prepare me for this opportunity to serve women. I am honored to work with such intelligent women as they strive diligently to contribute to their families, their communities, and their countries.”
Lin is a very proud parent of three grown boys who are a constant source of love and inspiration. In her spare time, she enjoys a wide variety of activities including running, gardening, cooking, and home improvements. With her parents as a sounding board and Terry Neese her mentor, Lin brings a sense of organization with a “nothing is impossible” attitude to a fast paced industry of constant change.
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Beth Pierce, Program Director
BETH PIERCE serves as Program Director at the Institute, where her current responsibilities include creating the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS program curriculum, timeline and logistics, tracking student participation during “In-Country” training in both Afghanistan and Rwanda, preparing for 30 of the participants (15 from each country) to travel to the United States in August 2009 to participate in Leadership Development and the International Women’s Economic Summit, as well as handling the logistics of the program and all the various events associated with the program.
Ms. Pierce’s career highlights have occurred in Oklahoma City and San Antonio, TX. She recently returned to Oklahoma in 2009 to join IEEW from San Antonio, where she developed donor and volunteer programs and coordinated volunteers for special events with KIPP Aspire Academy.
Beth worked for Project Woman Coalition in Oklahoma City as the Director of Operations, managing all aspects of the No-Cost Mammography and Early Detection programs, applying for various grants and assisting in the grant management that is the life blood of all non-profits. She also enjoyed three years with the San Antonio Stock and Rodeo Show, assisting in the marketing for this non-profit that provided college scholarships to Texas youth.
Before entering the world of non-profits, Pierce herself was an entrepreneur – founding and operating the “Fried Pie Place,” “Sunshine Snow” and “Get Organized.”
Beth is mother to Dylan, 23– a graduate of OSU and Samantha, 14.
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Becca Colbaugh, Director of Media Relations
BECCA COLBAUGH, the Institute’s Director of Media Relations, despite her travels, is an Oklahoman through and through. Becca graduated cum laude from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Arts in broadcast journalism. Though her Oklahoma roots were deep and her blood ran orange, she knew that she needed to take her skill sets to a new level. After completing a program at Georgetown University, she successfully launched her journalism career in the broadcast news industry in Washington, D.C., working her way from intern to producer for the award-winning, national news program, “The McLaughlin Group.”
As a producer, Becca wrote copy and executed editorial decisions in a high-pressure and fast-paced environment. In addition to her producing, while in DC, she worked under several titles for the creative agency JESS3, including production coordinator, videographer, project manager and administrative ninja.
But her career didn’t start there. Even before graduating, as a young journalist, Becca produced a series of reports based on her ground work in Kenya. She also published an in-depth, investigative report on Oklahoma drug sentencing laws, where she uncovered that, oftentimes, non-violent offenders are sentenced to longer terms than violent offenders. She also spent a Thanksgiving in jail – in order to effectively report on the experience of being behind bars during the holidays.
When the media industry was still trying to dissect and understand the world of new media, Becca pioneered the expansion of The Daily O’Collegian’s Web site by producing video news packages for online viewing, as well as managed and executed daily podcasting of headline news.
In her spare time, Becca enjoys spending time with her husband, Waite, and their dogs, Jersey and Hank. She enjoys both the outdoors — hiking, camping and fishing — and the arts, as a committed pianist and vocalist for almost 20 years.
At heart, Becca’s passion is to tell the untold stories that deserve to be heard. Despite the vehicle through which she chooses to tell the story – the written or spoken word – video or photography – on camera or off camera – online or offline – her goal is to always reveal the heart of the matter. Becca is honored to help tell the world about the PEACE THROUGH BUSINESS story and the stories of women entrepreneurs around the globe. They might just be the best stories yet.
