NJBIZ In the Lead 2026: Women-Owned Businesses

In some ways, the environment for women owning business has improved markedly. The pandemic and its aftermath encouraged entrepreneurs – many of them women – to finally take the leap and go out on their own. Starting from that point, they were able to meet the moment and find places for themselves in their communities. Customers, clients, vendors and other stakeholders were more receptive to trying new enterprises. And as the economy recovered, those new business owners benefited.

Those dynamics apparently show up in the numbers. According to the 2025 Securities and Exchange Commission’s Staff Report from the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation, the number of women-owned business increased by 17% from 2019 to 2024.

There are now about 2 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., employing about 19 million people, the report found.

But the picture is not all rosy. Women who are actually running businesses will explain in great detail the challenges they face. And the OASB report also documented some of those difficulties.

According to the report, 66% of women entrepreneurs believe that access to capital is crucial for them to succeed. But 42% of women who applied for bank loans were turned down. Only about a quarter of the women founders who sought pre-seed and seed financing were successful. And those who turned to crowdfunding under SEC rules raised a proportionally smaller amount than businesses with no women founders.

With those sobering statistics as the backdrop, NJBIZ is especially pleased to honor successful women-owned businesses with this issue. The leaders of the enterprises profiled in these pages have figured out how to deal with setbacks, persistent antediluvian attitudes, systemic discrimination and innumerable other difficulties to keep working, solving problems and providing goods and services the market demands.

Please keep all this in mind as you read through the profiles and let us know what you think of the choices represented here. And tell us if we missed any businesses deserving similar recognition. The profiles are presented in alphabetical order.

– Jeffrey Kanige
Email: [email protected]

Methodology

The Power and In the Lead lists are compiled by the NJBIZ editorial staff based on our reporting throughout the past year with input from experts in a variety of fields and recommendations from our readers. The staff looks for people who have gained public attention – and perhaps acclaim – for their professional accomplishments and public service. Each list identifies individuals who, through their efforts, are helping to make New Jersey a better place to live, work and do business. Honorees are not necessarily better at their jobs than others in their profession, but they have contributed meaningfully to the advancement of the public interest through their work and/or community service.

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