case study

WBEC Metro NY & Greater DMV

Two Cities. Two Weeks. One Movement. 

Women MEAN Business Summit

Overview

At a moment when the national conversation around women’s entrepreneurship and economic equity had never been more contested, or more necessary – WBEC Metro NY and Greater DMV needed to do more than fill seats at two back-to-back Women Mean Business Summits in New York and the Greater DMV.

With events two weeks apart across two distinct markets, the organization needed a PR partner who could build serious momentum fast, ensure neither event got lost in the noise, and, critically, position WBEC as a national thought leader at exactly the moment thought leadership carries the most weight.

Practice Areas

  • Multi-Phase Media Relations Strategy
  • Press Release Development & National Distribution
  • Targeted Regional Media Pitching
  • Calendar Listings & Event Placement
  • Social Media Amplification & Community Outreach
  • On-Site PR Presence & Speaking Engagement
  • Post-Event Story Pitching & Pipeline Management
  • Leadership Profiling & Executive Media Placement
Total Unique Monthly Views
10 M
Earned Media Value
$ 10 M
Total Press Hits in March 2026
10

our

approach

First and Last PR built a three-phase communications strategy designed to create momentum before the summits, amplify visibility in the room, and sustain editorial attention long after the final session ended.

 

  • Led with a national press release that generated 570+ pickups across Yahoo! Finance, The Street, and KTLA-TV, framing the summits as essential events for women in business
  • Deployed regionally distinct pitch angles for each market – New York and the Greater DMV – targeting business, entrepreneurial, and community outlets with tailored stories
  • Secured calendar listings and event features in NJ Monthly (UVM: 100K+), Washingtonian (UVM: 690K+), Baltimore Magazine, WYPR Baltimore, Washington Informer, and The Local Girl
  • Activated community amplification through New Voices Foundation (31.3K followers) and Fortune & Forks (18.7K followers) to reach women entrepreneurs beyond traditional press
  • First and Last PR CEO & Communicator-in-Chief Stephanie Scott-Bradshaw took the stage at the NYC summit to deliver From Certified to Celebrated, a learning session rooted in the agency’s own WBENC certification journey – offering attendees a rare perspective from a communications leader who has lived the process from the inside
  • Post-event, pivoted immediately to execute thought leadership pitching, securing a Forbes feature for WBEC NY DMV COO Leandra Joseph and landing a Reuters interview for board member Wendy Shen on the evolving landscape for women entrepreneurs

The 
challenge

Women-owned businesses represent a growing force in the U.S. economy - yet the platforms that connect them to real procurement opportunities, corporate partners, and the capital they need to scale rarely receive the mainstream media attention they deserve. For WBEC Metro NY and Greater DMV, the challenge was not just filling two summits. It was ensuring the organization's mission - and the thousands of women entrepreneurs who rely on it - received the visibility, credibility, and editorial authority commensurate with their impact, in a crowded business media landscape where that attention has to be earned.

With both summits scheduled just two weeks apart in March 2026 - NYC on March 6, Greater DMV on March 20 - the campaign needed to generate genuine national interest while driving hyperlocal awareness across two distinct markets simultaneously, without either event feeling like a sequel.

OUR 

strategies

01. A Phased National-to-Local Media Strategy

Rather than treating both summits as a single campaign, First and Last PR built two parallel media tracks - one national, one regional for each market. The national press release anchored broad awareness and established organizational credibility, while locally tailored pitches ensured each summit resonated with the specific communities it served. This approach allowed the team to stack coverage: national impressions from the wire pickups landed first, followed by event-specific calendar placements and regional features that drove real foot traffic and registrations. 

02. Community Amplification Beyond Traditional Press

Recognizing that women entrepreneurs often discover events through peer communities and trusted networks rather than traditional media, First and Last PR extended campaign reach through strategic community outreach. This included securing posts from New Voices Foundation, an Instagram story highlight from Fortune & Forks - a leadership collective for women of color- and amplification through WBE community platform Luminary. These touchpoints reached audiences already invested in the mission and far more likely to attend, share, and engage.

03. On-Site Presence as a PR Multiplier

First and Last PR did not manage the WBEC Metro NY summit from the outside, the team was in the room. CEO Stephanie Scott Bradshaw delivered a featured learning session, 'From Certified to Celebrated,' offering practical brand visibility guidance and helping attendees sharpen their pitches. The agency also held a marketplace table, creating direct touchpoints with WBEs, media partners, and attendees. This physical presence generated organic social content and gave post-event story pitches an authenticity that remote coverage rarely achieves.

04. Post-Event Thought Leadership Pipeline

The end of a summit is where many PR campaigns stop - First and Last PR treated post-event as a distinct phase with its own editorial strategy. The team developed targeted story angles from key summit takeaways including leadership insights and data on how networks drive business growth, and pitched them to national media alongside executive interview opportunities. This strategy secured a Forbes feature spotlighting the organization's COO Leandra Joseph and a Reuters interview for board member Wendy Shen, positioning WBEC Metro NY and Greater DMV as ongoing thought leaders, not just event producers.

our

results

The campaign generated 570+ press hits in March 2026 alone, with total media impressions reaching 186.18 million unique monthly views.
A single press release drove national and local pickups before either summit took place.
Social amplification from partner accounts reached a combined audience of 50,000+ engaged followers across the women’s entrepreneurship community.
Coverage spanned national business media, regional lifestyle and news publications, and community platforms across two distinct markets.
Top placements included Forbes (UVM: 55M+), Washingtonian (UVM: 690K+), Baltimore Magazine (UVM: 135K+), New Jersey Monthly (UVM: 100K+), WYPR Baltimore (UVM: 88K+), and Washington Informer (UVM: 54K+).
Earned Media Value totaled $1.72 million. With the Reuters feature still in active development, the coverage pipeline continues to grow beyond the reporting period.
WBEC Metro NY and Greater DMV entered both summits with press momentum already built - and left with a national editorial profile that extended well past event day.
The organization's leadership was positioned in Forbes and Reuters not as event hosts but as authoritative voices on women's entrepreneurship, capital access, and business readiness.
First and Last PR's on-site presence strengthened relationships with WBEs, media partners, and corporate attendees in ways that will carry forward into the Week of WBEC in May and the Impact Award Luncheons in Q4. The results here also reflect something less visible in the numbers: a PR partnership built on genuine alignment.
As a WBENC-certified, women-owned business, First and Last PR brought firsthand experience to every aspect of this campaign - from the community relationships that amplified the summits, to the stage presence that resonated with attendees, to the editorial instincts that shaped every pitch.
WBEC Metro NY and Greater DMV is now firmly positioned as the essential platform for women-owned business growth in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.