annual event

Annual Event

Renaissance’s Annual Event, Small Business – Big Impact

Coming to You Fall of 2019

Our 2018 Entrepreneurs of the Year

We were honored to present our Entrepreneurs of the Year at our 2018 Annual Event!

Established Entrepreneur of the Year

Gillian Shaw, Black Jet Baking Co.

Gillian enrolled in Renaissance’s Business Planning Class to help guide her growing business.

“Renaissance was instrumental in helping me make the leap from having a thousand jobs to one. I wouldn’t have been able to do that without this program. With Renaissance’s help I developed an effective business plan and was able to secure a loan for expansion.”

One piece of advice Gillian has for new business owners is recognizing that every day gets a little easier and knowing that it’s okay to dust yourself off and try again.

Black Jet Baking Co. is located in Bernal Heights and has nine employees.

Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year

Erendira Lara, Tortas GDL

Erendira grew up watching her parents run a small business. She combined her passion for cooking with her entrepreneurial skills and enrolled in Renaissance’s Business Prep.

She was able to learn fundamental skills that helped her outline her goals and how to achieve them for her own business.

Today, Erendira runs a successful restaurant in San Jose, which offers authentic regional street food originating from Guadalajara, Mexico.

Angela Cain Memorial Award

Troy and Danielle Reese, Queen’s Louisiana PoBoy Cafe

Troy and Danielle Reese opened Queen’s Louisiana Po‘ Boy at Pier 33, one of the best restaurant locations in the San Francisco.

With the help of Renaissance’s Bayview Center, Troy and Danielle were able to access resources and support in opening their second location.

Special Honoree

Evelyn Dilsaver

We are so proud to honor Women’s Leadership Council Member Evelyn Dilsaver for her tremendous support of women entrepreneurs. Evelyn had a long distinguished career as a finance executive before making the leap to corporate and nonprofit boards.

She built much of her career at Charles Schwab, where she was president and CEO of its investment management business and oversaw its $210 billion assets-under-management organization. She left in 2007 and has since served on nine corporate boards, four of which were public, as well as six nonprofit boards.

Evelyn formerly served on the board of the Women’s Initiative and was instrumental in Renaissance assuming the vital programs and services of the Women’s Initiative and carrying on these critical services for lower-income women entrepreneurs.