CBERQuenia Abreu

Quenia Abreu is the president of the New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce (NYWCC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Diversity & Inclusion initiatives for women and minority entrepreneurs and professionals.  Born in the Dominican Republic, Abreu was raised in New York City by “a village of strong women” who inspired her to believe at an early age that the key to gender and racial/ethnic equality is economic empowerment and growth. In 2002, Abreu and a group of businesswomen and community leaders founded the first women’s chamber of commerce in New York City and State. Today, the organization represents over 7,000 small businesses. Since the pandemic’s onset last year, the NYWCC has pivoted to help M/WBEs which have been disproportionately hard hit by the health crisis and its ensuing economic downturn. Abreu instituted a regular series of over 100 NYWCC virtual & in person programs advising M/WBEs of coping strategies and worked directly with communities to help struggling small business owners reopen and procure grants and PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans. She has helped over 2000 small businesses survive.

Due to her ongoing collaboration with elected officials and community leaders to help pass Local Law 129, now MWBE Local Law 1 and Article 15-A which mandate M/WBE participation in City and State projects, Abreu became a member of the M/WBE Advisory Boards for the Mayor, the School Construction Authority and the Department of Education (DOE). She was recently appointed to a statewide board guiding the reopening strategy during COVID-19 and to the Board of Directors of the Javits Center. Quenia has received many awards and recognitions for her work, she has been named to Crain’s New York Business’ Notable Hispanic Leaders and Executives. she also made City & State’s The Power of Diversity: Latino 100 and was voted the Civic Diversity Hero by Crain’s New York Business after City & State’s included her in the MWBE Power 50, all within the same six months.

Under Abreu’s leadership the NYWCC has provided technical assistance and training to more than 20,000 entrepreneurs, assisted with the creation of 10,000+ new businesses, and aided entrepreneurs in accessing $65 million in capital and $100 million in procurement contracts. It has helped over 5,000 entrepreneurs apply for Minority/Women Business Enterprise (M/WBE) certification through its M/WBE Center and Women’s Microenterprise Institute.