Founded in 1992 as the Women's Entrepreneurial Center, a program of the Metropolitan Atlanta Coalition of 100 Black Women, WEDA became an independent 501(c)(3) corporation in 1996. To date, WEDA has assisted more than 10,000 Atlanta-area residents through a variety of economic development programs. Although WEDA is a women-centric organization, it does not discriminate and serves an ethnically- and gender-diverse clientele.

Since its founding, WEDA has provided business development and management training and technical assistance to more than 10,000 Atlanta-area entrepreneurs. In the last three years alone, the organization’s programs and services have helped to facilitate the formation of more than 500 small businesses that range from home-based endeavors like jewelry-making, virtual assisting and home accessories design, to retail and personal services ventures like clothing stores and hair salons, to companies engaged in cutting edge activities like information technology and automotive waste oil recycling.

Also included among our client base are franchisees for Bruster’s Ice Cream, Smoothie King and others, as well as social entrepreneurs who have chosen to pursue non-profit ventures that provide critically needed services like transitional housing, after school programs and eldercare in response to the needs of disadvantaged families and communities.

Combined, these businesses have had a significant impact on the area’s economy, including the creation of more than 135 new jobs (not including the business owners).
 
WEDA's programs and services are divided into three categories: Business Development and Management, Wealth Building, and Customized Training and Licensing. These categories are designed to meet the learning, language and cultural needs of its clientele, as well as the objectives of the organization's supporters and community stakeholders.

WEDA is a bi-lingual organization that offers its programs and services in both English and Spanish. Further, WEDA makes every effort to meet the needs of physically challenged clients through the use of handicapped-accessible facilities, as well as by providing curriculums on either diskette (for use with JAWS or similar adaptive equipment) or in Braille so that visually-impaired clients can fully participate in all training activities.