What if you heard of a woman who grew up in a public housing project in Philadelphia, surrounded by teen mothers and gang violence, herself the product of a single-parent family dependent on welfare?

What if you heard about another woman, who enjoyed all the privileges of an exclusive finishing school followed by an Ivy League university and an exciting career, first in law and then in journalism?

What if I told you that both of those women are Dawn Rivers?

One of the nation’s most prominent of only a handful of experts on microbusinesses, Dawn Rivers (formerly Dawn Rivers Baker) has been researching, writing and thinking microbusiness for over a decade. Her activities on behalf of these very small businesses range from offering input on federal legislation to addressing audiences around the globe to serving as the nation’s only microbusiness journalist.

Dawn Rivers is the President and CEO of Wahmpreneur Publishing, Inc., and the editor and publisher of The MicroEnterprise Journal.

Dawn Rivers is a member of the Online New Association and a National Partner of Women Impacting Public Policy, where she serves on its Executive Advisory Board. In 2003, the Syracuse New York District of the U.S. Small Business Administration named Ms. Rivers as Small Business Journalist of the Year, and she has been selected for annual inclusion in Marquis’ Who’s Who in America® and Who’s Who Among American Women®.

Ms. Rivers is also often sought by fellow journalists for her expertise on microbusinesses. She has been a featured guest on Internet radio and podcast shows such as Jim Blasingame’s Small Business Advocate and Small Business Trends Radio with Anita Campbell, and is a regular contributor to Campbell’s Small Business Trends blog. She has also been quoted in articles for such publications as US News & World Report, Information Week, and CBS Marketwatch.

Ms. Rivers is intimately acquainted with both the heights and the depths of human endeavor as a result of a life that has spanned just about every socio-economic lifestyle available in this varied country. She rose out of poverty through education, earning an A Better Chance scholarship that sent her to Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia. From there, she attended Princeton and Columbia Universities and went on to work in legal administration for The Atlantic Recording Corporation and for premier Manhattan-based law firm Rosenman & Colin. She is currently an Honors student at Hartwick College, pursuing a degree in Anthropology.

In addition to her work reporting on news and issues for microenterprises, Ms. Rivers is the author of several books and papers, including E-Commerce For The Unfunded (2001), The Entrepreneurial Economy (2004) and A Profile of Microbusiness: The 2008 IssuesLive Minnesota Regional Pilot (2010), and the epic fantasy novel The Rise of The Phoenix (2002).

Ms. Rivers is a single mom who lives in the Catskill Mountain region of New York State with her three younger children.

With a widely varied background that allows her to view the microenterprise phenomenon in the United States from many different perspectives, she brings insight and dedication to her reporting for microbusinesses all across America.