Karen Kerrigan has been at the forefront of leading key initiatives to help foster U.S. and global entrepreneurship. She has served as president & CEO of the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) since 1994, and is founder of Women Entrepreneurs Inc. (WE Inc.).
Ms. Kerrigan regularly testifies before the U.S. Congress on key issues impacting small business and the economy. She has been appointed to several federal advisory boards including the National Women’s Business Council and the National Advisory Committee for Labor Provisions of U.S. Free Trade Agreements. Kerrigan has presented at two White House economic summits, and has helped to construct numerous high-impact projects including the first Mideast/North Africa Women's Business Summit in Tunis, Tunisia in 2005. She regularly provides counsel to governments, organizations and private sector parties across the globe regarding entrepreneurial development, capacity building and policy formation, advocacy and implementation. She serves on numerous boards, including the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), and is a founding member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum.
Among other accolades, Inc. Magazine named Kerrigan to its small business "Best Friends in D.C." (2006); and Fortune Small Business to its “Power 30” list (2000). She has been described as “the hardest working woman in show business” by one Washington newspaper. Her commentary, analysis and written work have appeared in many of the nation's leading newspapers. For more than a decade she wrote a regular column for the American City Business Journals - an influential network of weekly business newspapers in 50 major markets. She has appeared on ABC`s Nightline, The McLaughlin Group, CNN, CNBC, and Fox News Television among others. She has been a guest on hundreds of radio talk show programs.