When it comes to the challenges women entrepreneurs face in the often male-dominated business world, who better to turn to than those who have already faced and overcome them?

Four female business leaders who have achieved success founding or leading innovative companies will gather for a November 19, 2014 panel event entitled “Creating Space: How Women Entrepreneurs Succeed.”

This diverse group will discuss their experiences as business leaders, major challenges they had to overcome, and their advice for others who would like to follow in their footsteps.

It will mark the first annual entrepreneurs event hosted by the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.’s (LVEDC) Innovation, Talent and Entrepreneurship Council (ITE).

Dawn Ferrante, LVEDC director of regional competitiveness, said the event celebrates Global Entrepreneurship Week, an international celebration of innovators and job creators running from November 17 to 23.

“The LVEDC is very much committed to helping foster entrepreneurship in the Lehigh Valley,” Ferrante said. “These four accomplished women bring a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to achieving success in challenging, competitive environments.”

The panelists will include:

• Katy Worrilow, founder of LifeAire Systems, LLC, which is setting the industry standard in offering effective self-contained air purification technology for in vitro fertilization, biological and pharmaceutical products in hospitals, air security and more.
• Kristin Holmes, co-founder of Holmes Cunningham Engineering, a land development civil engineering firm that has been involved in the design and management of numerous residential and commercial civil engineering projects throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as internationally.
• Lindsay Watson, co-founder of FIA NYC, LLC. Employment Services, a staffing firm with offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, which provides staffing solutions to a variety of industries including technology, ecommerce, telecommunications, manufacturing and consulting.
• Corinne Warnshuis, executive director of Girl Develop It, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable and accessible programs and hands-on instruction to women seeking to code and build their own web and mobile applications.

The event will start at 6 p.m. with hor d’oeuvres, wine, beer and refreshments at Velocity IA at 532 Hamilton Street in Allentown.

The panel discussion itself begins at 7 p.m. at the Rodale Room of the neighboring Allentown Symphony Orchestra’s Miller Symphony Hall at 23 N 6th Street. Coffee, desert and networking with panelists will follow at 8 p.m.

In the upcoming weeks leading up to the event, the LVEDC e-newsletter will feature interviews with each of the panelists, providing further details about their backgrounds and experiences in the business world.

The event will be open to the public at no cost. Parking will be available at the Transportation Center Deck at Sixth and Linden streets. Members of the audience will have the opportunity to ask the panelists their own questions during the event.

In addition to the LVEDC, the event is sponsored by City Center Lehigh Valley and the Commercial Real Estate Women of the Lehigh Valley (CREW LV). Lin Erickson, executive director of the Da Vinci Science Center, will serve as moderator.

Click here for full event information.

Please RSVP for the event at

http://lv-creatingspace.eventbrite.com

.