The WE* (Women Entrepreneurs) Disrupt Conference is an annual event focused on supporting Minnesota’s emerging entrepreneurs. The conference is open to all but will be centered around the unique experience of female founders. 

Friday, February 9th

12:30 - 5:45 PM*

Carlson School of Management

Join us for a day of insightful panel discussions, interactive workshops, and invaluable connections as we strive to disrupt the narrative. 

*Programming ends at 4:45 with an optional Happy Hour Networking from 4:45-5:45pm.

Quick Bites: Natural Products Opportunities in Food Service

As workers return to offices and diners to restaurants, the demand for natural products in food service channels continues to explode, providing a huge opportunity for emerging brands to generate awareness and trial. How can brands efficiently land foodservice accounts and capitalize on these opportunities? We will hear from a diverse group of buyers, distributors, and brands on how small brands can build their foodservice business.

Quick Bites: Raising Capital: Crowdfunding

The second in our series on Raising Capital in the current financial climate is all about crowdfunding. Learn about the options in Equity vs. Lending Based Crowdfunding, and hear from brands who have tapped into this emerging financing tool.

Quick Bites: Raising Capital: Commercial Lending in the Current Environment

Capital raising for emerging food & beverage brands is more challenging than ever. Increasingly companies are turning to debt financing to keep their growth steady and cover essential costs. Hear what lenders are looking for, the questions that they're digging deeper into more than ever before, and how you can best position your company for a commercial borrowing.

Quick Bites: Building a Meaningful Community Through Emerging Social Platforms

Once upon a time a brand could create a Facebook page or an Instagram handle and simply encourage their customers to like or follow. Now brands must run paid ads to reach those same eyeballs. Email remained as an owned channel – but the volume and frequency increased so much that they are mostly ignored.

Savvy brands are finding ways to break through the digital noise by generating memorable buzz and tapping into the powerful world of word-of-mouth sharing. In this info-packed session, you will hear how four brands leveraged TikTok, Discord, SMS messaging, and social impact initiatives to build passionate brand advocates.

Join Naturally Network and guest experts on June 20th for a mid-year update on the state of the Natural Product industry. Learn about new retail, new regulations, and fundraising updates. Leave this virtual event armed with crucial insight to inform decision-making, adjustments, and planning for the upcoming holiday sales season.

On June 14, join Naturally Austin, Naturally San Diego and experts from NIQ to learn about Leveraging Data for Retailer Pitches.

Naturally Chicago is our region's trade association for businesses working to build a better food and natural products industry. And we cannot build a truly better food industry unless our business ecosystem is as diverse, equitable and inclusive as possible.

To advance that purpose, Naturally Chicago presents a free webinar, Connecting with Retail Buyers Through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Programs, on Tuesday, June 6 at 3:30 p.m. central time.

The webinar is co-presented by (included), a membership collective for BIPOC top executives in CPG who are dedicated to one another's success, who advocate for diverse representation, and who commit to amplifying BIPOC voices and brands in our industry.

The webinar will highlight the great work being done by programs that provide intensive learning experiences and technical assistance to BIPOC entrepreneurs — including the M/O (Minority-Owned) Fellowship created by Naturally Network, which has nine chapters across the United States, including Naturally Chicago.

The topic will be illuminated by a panel of business leaders: moderator Nona Lim, whose self-named company in Oakland, Calif., makes fresh, clean-label Asian bone broths, soups, rice and ramen noodles; Chicago's Stephanie Morimoto, CEO/owner of the Asutra self-care products company; Toyin Kolawole, founder/CEO of West African-themed Iya Foods based in suburban Naperville; and Le'Spencer Walker, Director of Merchandising Vendor Development for Minneapolis-based Target.

Join us for what is sure to be an informative and impactful discussion.

A CPG focused pitch event that showcases the best of Austin Natural & Consumer product founders.

Join Naturally San Diego for the first People and Culture Forum of 2023!

The discussion will be led by Amanda Miles​, Chief of Staff at Bitchin' Sauce and Liz Trowler,​ Chief of Staff at OLIPOP.

They will be discussing the various ways corporations can support working parents through programs, education and financial assistance. The forum leaders will cover areas, such as: child care assistance, fertility and postpartum support and leadership education programs.

This event is open to all people, whether or not they are parents, because we all play a role in creating supportive workplaces and communities.

Naturally San Diego forums are curated cohorts of professionals with similar responsibilities within their respective companies. We have launched 5 forums to date: Supply Chain/Ops, Finance, Sales, Marketing and HR/People & Culture.

Naturally New York's 3rd Retail Roundtable will feature an amazing panel of 3 buyers from top some of the top e-commerce platforms and will be moderated by Alison Cayne, Founder of Haven's Kitchen.

Almost every CPG success story has involved taking an omnichannel approach to sales and brand building, and that has never been more relevant than in today's environment. Come hear from 3 of the biggest alternative channels in better-for-you CPG today – Hungryroot, GoPuff and ButcherBox – on how they think about working with brands to create win-win partnerships

They will share insights and best practices on how to successfully partner with them to launch and thrive on their platforms.