Lea Bishop

Lea Bishop is currently director of the Mid-Hudson Satellite Center of Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC), a non-profit small business development organization that has been successfully promoting entrepreneurship as a viable means of economic livelihood in Westchester County for the past 15 years.

Ms. Bishop, with funding from an economic development assistance grant, has spent countless hours and resources building up the WEDC Satellite. Using the same programs successfully developed in Westchester, the Satellite will provide high-quality and affordable business training and resources to both men and women across all stages of business development and of all different business types throughout the seven counties of the Mid-Hudson Valley.

Before the opening of the Satellite, Ms. Bishop worked diligently for more than three years to bring a WEDC satellite to the Mid-Hudson Valley. Prior to this, she was director of Small Business Membership and Program Development at the Greater Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce where she was responsible for member recruitment and retention, development, and successful execution of small business programs. She was also the project manager for the Institute for Business Innovation in Poughkeepsie, and worked at IBM as both a project manager and computer programmer. 

Ms. Bishop is known for giving her time indiscriminately where she sees the need.  Currently a member of the board of directors for the House of Hope Domestic Violence Shelter, Ms. Bishop was also a member of the Access Capital Workgroup, NYS Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council. For her diligence and enthusiasm, she is the recipient of the New York State Assembly award for volunteer service to not-for-profit organizations. 

Ms. Bishop received a Master of Science in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from the University of Virginia and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Wilkes University. She currently resides in Hopewell Junction with her husband John and their son John.