Deborah Osgood, Cofounder/CKO
Deborah Osgood is cofounder and Chief Knowledge Office of Knowledge Institute, specialist in entrepreneurial education, development and social marketing.
Deborah is a speaker, author, consultant, mentor and expert in entrepreneurship, business development and marketing communications and has been featured on New York's WPIX morning news, WMUR NH Businesses, Boston WCVB-TV Chronicle and WBZ-TV Evening Magazine. She has been named Women in Business Champion by the U.S. Small Business Administration, and has received awards for Excellence in Business Services, Enterprising Woman of the Year, Women's Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, Outstanding Woman in Media and Above and Beyond in Youth Leadership.
At the Knowledge Institute, she is effectively helping millions of individuals on a daily basis as creator and host of entrepreneurial resource communities, educational programs and social media networks. These include the Business Utility Zone Gateway, and specialty networks such as myWomanBiz, myVeteranBiz, myYouthBiz, BUZVr and myExpertNet.
These unique resource and social communities are serving to connect women, veterans, minorities, disadvantaged and young individuals to free and low-cost government and public business assistance programs in all 50 United States, as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. As innovative public/private collaborative initiatives, these communities have earned Deborah numerous commendations from U.S. Senators, Congressmen, and leading economic development agencies for their impact in driving economic and social vitality across America.
As a prominent mentor to countless of small business owners, Deborah was recruited to participate in a historic event pioneered by the U.S. Department of State where she served as 1 of only 9 women in the U.S. to mentor 1 of 9 businesswomen in Iraq under the U.S. Iraqi Businesswomen Partnership program. She is also a volunteer SCORE counselor, NH Jobs for America's Graduates board Vice-Chair, mentor of two young girls through the Big Brother Big Sister program, and career counselor for youth in at-risk environments.
She provides advice and counsel in Washington, DC working with Congress, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Small Business Administration on issues of communications, economic development, fund raising, and government resource development, and as Committee Vice-Chair for NH Governor's Economic Development Advisory Council.
Her expertise has also been sought after and published by The World Bank, The Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Entrepreneur.com, Business Week, and myriad leading social media venues, and she hosts blogs, podcasts and webcasts for IBM as their national spokesperson in support of women and minority entrepreneurs through their SMEToolKit initiative.
She holds an MBA with highest honors and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Arts degree in Transformational Leadership with a focus on public education redesign and the role of community-based mentoring in teaching young adults career planning and entrepreneurial development skills.
"Everything in life is about working well with and through others." - Deborah Osgood