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Ms. Terry Neese - Board Member
Terry is the President and Co-Founder of the Institute for the Economic Empowerment of Women, an international non-profit, education and training research organization. She is also Co-Founder and Past President of Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and President/CEO of GrassRoots Impact, Inc.
WIPP’S mission is to strengthen businesswomen’s sphere of influence in the legislative process of our nation, create economic opportunities for them, and build bridges and alliances to other small business organizations. As Co-Founder and Past President of WIPP, Terry represented the organization's more than half a million members on Capitol Hill and to the Administration.
Neese was recognized in the September 2000 issue of Fortune Magazine as one of the Power 30 -- the most influential small businesspersons in Washington, D.C. Recently Inc. Magazine recognized Terry as one of four Power Brokers and Activists for small business inside the Beltway. GrassRoots Impact is a public policy strategies firm whose mission is to connect corporate America and political leaders to small business owners, including women and minority-owned businesses, and women in business. They have offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Oklahoma City.
Terry founded Terry Neese Personnel Services in Oklahoma City and recently celebrated 30 successful years in business. Terry’s firm has helped to find careers for more than 20,000 individuals and generated over $2.7 billion in payroll to her community. She faced many adversities in building her multi-million dollar firm including a devastating fire and highway construction, which closed access to her business for over two years.
Terry served as President of the Oklahoma Association of Personnel Consultants and worked tirelessly to advocate on behalf of human resource issues at the state and federal level. Her ability to select professional, loyal employees for corporations and assist with implementing successful human resource strategies and motivating others has led to her success. Terry is a “serial” entrepreneur having founded five companies anchored by the personnel industry. Her holdings include farming and ranching and Gulf Coast real estate properties. Terry Neese is a motivator for women and minority entrepreneurs.
Terry is a licensed pilot with several hundred hours of experience. She is a member of the Ninety-Nines, which Amelia Earhart founded in 1929.
On July 29, 2005, President George W. Bush nominated Terry Neese to be the Director of the United States Mint. On September 19, 2005, Terry declined the nomination to remain in Oklahoma with her family. Terry Neese made history in 1990 as the first woman nominated by a major political party for Lt. Governor of Oklahoma. She had never sought public office prior to this campaign. Her roots run deep in the Cherokee Nation. President George Herbert Walker Bush appointed Terry as a Commissioner to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education and President Clinton reappointed her to the Council. President George Herbert Walker Bush also appointed Terry to serve on the SBA Small Business Advisory Council.
In January 2001, she was appointed to serve on the newly created Office Depot Women's Advisory Board and the Wyndham Women’s Advisory Board. Terry's outreach goes beyond the United States. She is an active member of the Euro-American Women's Council and serves as its Global Corporate Vice President of Business and Development/Public Policy. Terry was recognized by Northwood University with their 2006 Outstanding Business Leader Award. She has been inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. Additional honors include the Women In Communication Byliner Award, National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)'s National Public Policy Award, and the Oklahoma City NAWBO Chapter's Lifetime Achievement Award. The Business Women's Network and the National Foundation for Women Legislators recognized Terry as "Entrepreneur of the Year" and, in 2000, she was named the Oklahoma City Journal Record's Hall of Fame Woman of the Year.
In recognition of Terry's unwavering small business advocacy, former Congressman J.C. Watts nominated Terry for the prestigious "Unsung Heroines Award.” The award presented each year by the Mitsubishi Motors USA Foundation and PBS's public policy program "To The Contrary with Bonnie Erbe," recognizes women who give tirelessly of themselves to make life better for others. President George W. Bush appointed Terry as a member of the National Women's Business Council. The National Women's Business Council is a bi-partisan Federal government council created to serve as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress, and the U.S. Small Business Administration on economic issues of importance to women business owners.
She serves on the board of directors of the National Business Association, nFocus Software, March of Dimes, and Axela Government Relations. She is on the Steering Committee for the Women’s Majority Network, which Senator Elizabeth Dole formed. Terry is often requested for interviews on Fox News, CNN, CNBC and other media outlets across the country. Terry and her family reside in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
