Geri Sanchez Aglipay

As Region V Administrator, Geri Sanchez Aglipay oversees SBA programs, offices, and operations in the SBA’s Great Lakes region, serving Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Ms. Aglipay is a second-generation American and a daughter of a veteran.  With over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, and economic development, she is passionate about strengthening collaborative innovation across sectors and industries to create more equitable paths to financial security for small business owners and the self-employed, especially for socially and economically disadvantaged communities.

Prior to SBA, she served as Director of the Midwest Region and National Director of Women’s Entrepreneurship for Small Business Majority, where she expanded and directed the organization’s strategic education programs, policy, research, and financial development efforts in the Midwest and oversaw women’s entrepreneurship nationwide to address disparities. In addition, she has served as commissioner of the Cook County Commission for Social Innovation; co-chair of Racial Wealth Gap Committee of Financial Inclusion for All Illinois; and on the advisory council of HHS NIOSH Center of Excellence UIC Center for Healthy Work.

Regional Administrator Aglipay has experience in legislative and administrative policies that affect small businesses, and she has a record of coalition-building across public, private and non-profit sectors to build ecosystems for collective impact. She advances data-driven innovation and investments for equity and inclusive economic prosperity, especially for socioeconomically disadvantaged entrepreneurs. Aglipay has led small business interests on anti-predatory lending policies and Community Reinvestment Act rules; and she spearheaded the creation of a toolkit on sensible metrics to assess small business service impact in underserved areas.

She is a graduate of Bradley University and pursued graduate study in community development finance from the University of New Hampshire.