Past Events
Virtual Coffee Break with StartOut – Monday, September 14, 2020
Our Office joined a discussion with StartOut and Socos Labs as they demonstrated their StartOut Pride Economic Impact Index platform and presented data on issues encountered by LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs. StartOut is a national organization supporting the LQBTQ+ entrepreneurial community by providing the resources entrepreneurs need to succeed, promoting the successes of the community, and researching the economic impacts of LGBTQ+ discrimination. A video recording will be posted here once it is available.
Virtual Coffee Break with the National Association of Securities Professionals – Thursday, July 30, 2020
Our Small Business Advocate, Martha Miller, joined the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) for a virtual coffee break moderated by Pamela Gibbs, Director of the SEC’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion. NASP is a national organization that is committed to helping people of color and women achieve inclusion in the financial services industry. Martha and Pam spoke with securities professionals from across the country about trends in capital raising and ongoing initiatives at the SEC, and NASP members shared important feedback about that they are seeing in the market.
Virtual Panel Discussion: Small Businesses in the Public Markets – Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Our Small Business Advocate, Martha Miller, joined a virtual panel discussion on the experience of small, publicly-traded companies on Wednesday, July 22, 2020. Martha joined OTC Markets Group’s General Counsel, Dan Zinn, and several executives representing OTCQX-traded companies to discuss issues impacting small public companies in today’s markets, including capital raising, becoming a publicly-traded company, secondary trading, and reporting and disclosure. Participant questions and feedback were incorporated throughout the panel discussion. This page will be updated when the video recording is available.
Virtual Coffee Break with the New America Alliance – Wednesday, July 22, 2020
Our Small Business Advocate, Martha Miller, joined Pamela Gibbs, Director of the SEC’s Office of Minority and Women Inclusion, for the New America Alliance’s (NAA) virtual meeting. NAA is a nonprofit organization of entrepreneurs and business leaders dedicated to advancing the economic development of the American Latino community. Event participants had the opportunity to engage with the SEC as well as discuss unique challenges faced by minority-owned businesses and investors as they look to raise and deploy capital. Participants were able to ask questions and share feedback on small business capital raising.
Virtual Panel Discussion: Policy and Business with Middle Market Private Companies and Late-Stage Investors – Thursday, July 9, 2020
Our Small Business Advocate, Martha Miller, joined a virtual panel discussion with middle market private companies and late-stage investors discussing how to lead in crisis and engage on policy on July 9, 2020. The panel discussed how business leaders and investors are navigating the current challenges and positioning themselves for growth, the current framework for raising capital, and the public policy opportunities in capital formation, liquidity, and equity.
Virtual Discussion with the Angel Capital Association – Thursday, May 14, 2020
Our Small Business Advocate, Martha Miller, joined the Angel Capital Association’s Virtual Summit of Angel Investing on May 14, 2020 as a keynote speaker. As part of the event, Martha spoke with angel investors from across the country about trends with capital raising in the current environment, ongoing initiatives at the SEC, including the capital formation proposal, and strategies to bridge networks.
Virtual Coffee Break with National Diversity Coalition and U.S. Small Business Administration – Friday, May 1, 2020
Our Small Business Advocate, Martha Miller, joined the National Diversity Coalition (NDC) and U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) on Friday, May 1, 2020 for a virtual coffee break. NDC is a nonprofit organization that seeks to strengthen America and all its diverse communities through advocacy, collaboration, and economic empowerment. The event was open to the public and gave participants the opportunity to engage with the SEC and the SBA as well as discuss updates, trends, and perspectives on how COVID-19 is impacting raising capital. Participants had an opportunity to ask questions and share feedback on small business capital raising.
Virtual Coffee Break with National Small Business Association – Thursday, April 16, 2020
Our Small Business Advocate, Martha Miller, joined the National Small Business Association (NSBA) on Thursday, April 16, 2020 for a virtual meeting. NSBA is a nonprofit organization that advocates for small businesses representing a wide range of industries. Martha discussed updates and trends in capital raising activity with attendees from across the country and NSBA members provided important feedback about what they are seeing in the market. Martha explained how the Office can support small businesses and their investors and highlighted recently proposed amendments to several of the SEC’s capital raising rules that may impact how small businesses access capital.
iFundWomen Virtual Coffee Break – Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Are you a business or entrepreneur that is interested in learning more about the tools and resources the SEC has available for small businesses? On April 8, 2020, Martha Miller, the Director of the Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation, collaborated with iFundWomen in a workshop that provided a guided walk through of the pathways available for entrepreneurs to access investment capital and answered questions from attendees about navigating the capital raising framework and how the Office can help.
Online Investment Capital Raising Virtual Coffee Break – Friday, April 3, 2020
Are you a business, entrepreneur or investor that is considering new strategies to bridge your networks? Interested in learning more about the impact of recent events on crowdfunding?
On April 3, 2020, our Office hosted a virtual coffee break that discussed updates and trends in online investment capital raising.
Moderator: Martha Legg Miller, Director, Office of the Advocate for Small Business Capital Formation
Panelists: George Cook (Honeycomb Credit), Youngro Lee (NextSeed), Kendrick Nguyen (Republic)
Transcript: Online Investment Capital Raising event transcript
The Commission proposed temporary relief on May 4 to allow small businesses to pursue expedited crowdfunding offerings, taking into consideration feedback from this event. To learn more about the Commission’s temporary crowdfunding relief, see this press release.
