Terry Neese's Bio

TERRY NEESE is a Distinguished Fellow at the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) where she heads the organization's Family Policy Center. In that role, Terry develops policy ideas that can help small businesses and families keep more of the money they earn and make better financial and health choices. In addition, she conducts bipartisan briefings on small business and family issues for congressional leaders and their staffs and has regularly testified before the U.S. House and Senate.

The NCPA's Family Policy Center is at the forefront of small business and family policy. Neese has developed policy ideas and initiatives that can change the lives of most Americans, including allowing new ways to purchase health care, cutting taxes for small businesses, making wage and hour laws more flexible, and ensuring tax fairness for working spouses and stay-at-home parents.

Terry is recognized as a national expert on economic issues that effect small businesses and families. She has written articles that have been published in the Chicago Sun-Times, Entrepreneurial Women Magazine, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Oklahoman, The Washington Examiner, and the Washington Times. Terry is a recurring guest on Fox News, CNN, and CNBC, as well as on local TV and radio stations.

A successful small business owner, Terry made history in 1990 when she became the first woman nominated by a major political party for the seat of Lt. Governor of Oklahoma. She was recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the "Power 30" - the most influential small businesspersons in Washington, DC. And Inc. Magazine named Neese as one of the four top advocates for entrepreneurs in the U.S.

Terry has been appointed to numerous councils and positions by Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, including:

• National Advisory Council on Indian Education
• Small Business Advisory Council (under the U.S. Small Business Administration)
• National Women's Business Council (a bipartisan federal government council created to serve as an independent source of advice and counsel to the President, Congress)
• Director of the United States Mint
• Advisory Council for the United States Committee for United Nations Development Fund for Women

Founder of Terry Neese Personnel Services, Terry served as the national president of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), the largest women's association of its kind. She also has founded several organizations that are focused on helping women and small business owners, including Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP) and the Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW). Terry is the author of a training manual, Power Tools for Women, with which she trains and encourages women business owners throughout the country to affect change through involvement in public policy. She has been inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame, which honors women who have championed public policy issues that are important to women.