WEDC Names Nikki Hahn to Become Next CEO

Congratulations to Nikki A. Hahn, MPA who has been named the next CEO of the Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC), an award-winning organization serving Westchester and the Hudson Valley, helping women achieve economic self-sufficiency and financial stability through business ownership and entrepreneurship.

For the past three years, Hahn has served as WEDC’s Director of Development and Strategic Initiatives. She will take the reins as CEO on January 1, 2022, replacing Anne M. Janiak, who will continue on with WEDC as a special advisor on an as-needed basis, and remain as executive director of the Westchester Municipal Officials Association.

“We are extremely fortunate to be working with Nikki,” commented Barbara H. Van Bergen, president of WEDC’s Board of Directors. “Her extraordinary intelligence, collaborative nature, and thirst for innovation and knowledge, combined with an amazing can-do attitude, will serve our organization and community well. We were especially impressed with her ability to pivot during the past year, during extremely challenging times, enabling us to continue to offer our clients all the services they needed.”

Hahn said her goals are to increase WEDC’s presence in BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities in the region, expand services, and continue to build the organization’s partnerships. “BIPOC entrepreneurs face greater challenges accessing the resources they need to build successful businesses. We need to dismantle barriers and pave the way for racial equality in the small business space. To that end, the training opportunities we offer rival those found at many leading educational institutions. But we also provide high-touch business training, networking, and access to capital,” she said.

Before joining WEDC, Hahn served as corporate relations and service events manager for Volunteer New York!; was chair of the Scarsdale School Board Nominating Committee, and served as Client and Partner Development Director for The Acceleration Project. A resident of Scarsdale, Hahn also was active with the Junior League of Central Westchester. In addition to her work at WEDC, she is chair of the Cure JM Foundation’s Board of Directors. She earned both a Masters of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Science degree from New York University.