How Barbara Morrison has helped foster small businesses in the Bay Area for over 30 years

As the first female broker on the trading desk of a San Francisco boutique lender, Barbara Morrison was hoping for some business cards. But this was 1976. And, she was told, the company didn’t issue business cards to “girls.”

Well, that changed. She also managed to get onto their in-house directory. But, alas, only as “B. Morrison.” It was, after all, 1976.

Morrison went on to join the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Economic Development. She smiled when she recalled how her boss had a girlfriend in Southern California — which often meant he couldn’t bother to attend Mayor Dianne Feinstein‘s 8 a.m. meetings with city department heads. At barely 30, Morrison attended in his stead.