Dr. Deborah A. Osgood, Cofounder/CEO
Deborah is cofounder and CEO of the Knowledge Institute and a recognized authority on entrepreneurship, small business and self-employment. She has been a featured guest on over 30 television and radio shows including New York's WPIX morning news, SanDiego's FOX in the Morning, Seattle's The Two O'Clock Show, Sacramento's The Adams Report, Boston WCVB-TV Chronicle, Chicago's Real Talk Radio and WMUR-TV's NH Business. As both a scholar and practitioner in the field of entrepreneurship, her expertise has been sought after and published in The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, New York Times, NASE, Entrepreneur, the Associated Press and numerous other trade journals.
She is the author of Who Am I?: A Guide to Entrepreneurial Focus and multiple works focused on starting and growing a small business. Her publications are used in training programs, academic institutions and economic development agencies nationally and internationally, including reaching millions of women and minority entrepreneurs as spokeswomen for IBM and The World Bank's SMEToolKit. Her 4-Step Program offers one of the most innovate approaches to discovering life purpose as a foundation for purposeful engagement in learning and life for individuals from middle-school aged to adult-learners.
Deborah's entrepreneurial proficiency stems from having turned around a manufacturing business from Chapter 11 to industry preeminence early in her career. After selling the business, she launched a social entrepreneurial venture to improve awareness, access and use of America's government and nonprofit business assistance programs. As a no-cost public service privately sustained through educational content underwriting, Deborah created multiple small business resource communities including, the Business Utility Zone Gateway, myExpertNet, Business Utility Zone for Individuals with Disabilities and the Veteran's Virtual Business Accelerator. Collectively, these communities are driving over 2.5 million business-to-business connections each month in support of venture launch, growth and sustainability.
Deborah's consultation and mentoring skills earned her an invitation to participate in a historic event pioneered by the U.S. Department of State where she served as 1 of only 9 women in the U.S. to mentor 1 of 9 businesswomen in Iraq under the U.S. Iraqi Businesswomen Partnership Program. She also donates her expertise in Board and committee service to the U.S. Small Business Administration Regulatory Fairness Board, New Hampshire Governor's Economic Development Advisory Council, SCORE Counselors to America's network, Jobs for America's Graduates and Big Brother Big Sisters. For over a decade, she has been providing advice and counsel in Washington, DC working with Congress, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Small Business Administration on issues of communications, economic development, fund raising, and government resource development. She also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Young Entrepreneur's Study, a joint Tufts University and Stanford University project studying entrepreneurial purpose in young adults.
The impact of Deborah's work has resulted in numerous praises including Women in Business Champion by the U.S. Small Business Administration, as well as Excellence in Business Services, Enterprising Woman of the Year, Women's Entrepreneurial Spirit Award, Outstanding Woman in Media, Self-Made Person of the Year, Above and Beyond in Youth Leadership and NH's Volunteer Spirit Award.
Deborah holds a Doctorate with highest honors in Transformational Leadership from Franklin Pierce University with a concentration in Entrepreneurial Education, a Masters in Business Administration with highest honors from Southern New Hampshire University, and a Bachelor of Business Science with honors from New Hampshire College. She also holds certificates in Webmaster Technologies, Communications, Graphic Design and Leadership.
"Everything in life is about working well with and through others." - Dr. Deborah A. Osgood