Latest / The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson / What Can We Do Post-Fearless Fund Case?

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What Can We Do Post-Fearless Fund Case? · The SmallBizChat with Melinda Emerson

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  3, 2, 1, 0, ignition.
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  Lift off.
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  Ending small business failure.
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  Welcome to the small biz chat podcast with the number 1 small business expert, Melinda
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  Emerson.
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  Melinda's goal is to end small business failure, and she'll give you the information
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  you need succeed and live the life you dream of.
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  Now here's your host, the small Biz chat lady herself, Melinda Emerson.
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  Have you subscribed to the small bizchett podcast?
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  Well, it's time every Wednesday we offer listeners bite sized actionable tips to start
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  Hi, everybody.
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  Welcome to another edition of the small biz chat podcast.
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  I'm Melinda Emerson's small biz lady, your host, and I am so excited to talk to you all
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  today.
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  Today, I'm gonna talk about what we can do post the fearless fund case.
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  And for those of you who are not aware, the fearless fund court decision, centers on a
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  legal challenge between the fearless fund, which is an Atlanta based organization that
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  provides grants and support and investment in black women entrepreneurs, the fearless fund
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  was established to address significant funding disparities between black women entrepreneurs
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  and other types of entrepreneurs.
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  The Fund offers grants, investment, and other resources specifically targeted to, black
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  women, and their goal is to level the playing field and foster greater diversity and
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  inclusion in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
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  A legal lawsuit was filed against the fearless fund by the American alliance for equal rights,
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  AAER, an organization led by Edward lump known for challenging affirmative action policies.
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  This lawsuit argued that the Phillips Fund's practices of providing grants exclusively for
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  black women violated the Civil Rights Act of 1966, which prohibits racial discrimination in
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  contracting.
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  The court decision, a federal judge ruled against the Phillips funds stating that its
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  eligibility criteria for grants were racially discriminatory The decision was based on the
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  interpretation that providing grants exclusively to black women constitutes unequal
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  treatment based on race, which is prohibited.
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  Under a federal law.
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  So this is the, you know, the quote unquote legally's definition of what happened, but
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  there are really wide wide reaching implications for this decision.
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  And number 1, just the funding practices of corporations and other venture capital funds,
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  really it's gonna cause everybody to reevaluate their funding criteria, which is is because if
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  you look at the, federal contracting standards, if you look at the amount of money that that
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  goes to black women entrepreneurs from venture capital firms, even from government
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  contracting, it is 1.5%.
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  It is like the venture capital investment is like point 5 percent.
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  The the these are not huge numbers.
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  You know, the United States is made up of 12% African American folks.
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  And listen, guys, only 22% of African Americans have below above a high school education.
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  So I really want you guys to think about whether or not the parody has been achieved.
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  You know, it's interesting in 2 years in 2026.
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  The United States is gonna be celebrating.
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  It 250th birthday in 2026.
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  But if you think about slavery.
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  Slavery starting in America in 16 19.
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  And the civil war was fought over slavery, which is what created you know, our great our
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  great nation.
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  You know, so I I think that you think about 250 years versus 400 some years.
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  Right?
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  And and the long term systemic ways in which, institutional systems have been put in place to
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  keep black people, below everyone else in terms of education, in terms of housing value in
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  terms of you know, where we could even live and the type of jobs we could even have, you know,
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  the early Americans who were able to do early black Americans who were able to get education,
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  were largely pushing careers like teaching, preaching, farming because they weren't allowed
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  other types of opportunities.
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  And so I think that for someone to suggest that the fact that the fearless fund wants to
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  specifically fund black women entrepreneurs, I think is really pretty outrageous when you
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  consider it because the reality of the situation is is it's just still such a small
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  amount of support out here.
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  And when you consider the vestiges of slavery and what it did to African American people in
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  the United States, it is like not even coming close to something that would bring parody to,
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  all of the potential entrepreneurs out here.
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  And furthermore, You know, interestingly enough, I just went through this whole process
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  with my son of applying to college and applying for scholarships And what I thought was really
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  amazing was there is a scholarship for everything you can imagine.
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  Left handed kids.
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  Red headed kids.
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  Kids with learning disabilities, kids who are great athletes, kids who lost a parent, to you
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  know, due to cancer or something.
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  I mean, there's so many kinds of scholarships and support you can get, and nobody sued any of
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  those organizations, but somebody took the time to sue the fearless fund because I believe they
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  support black women entrepreneurs.
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  And I and I think that that is really I think it's really a challenge, and it's really sad.
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  I think that the the ruling could have broader implications on other funds and initiatives
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  that focus on specific race or ethnic groups, you know, these organizations could all face
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  similar legal challenges and some of them already have and people may need to adjust
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  their practices, their rules, who can apply, to to comply with anti discrimination laws.
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  And, you know, the other thing that this whole case has done is that it sparked this debate
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  about the best ways to address historical and systemic inequities faced by black
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  entrepreneurs, black women entrepreneurs in particular.
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  And there's a lot of advocates that argue for the need to continue supporting
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  underrepresented groups, while obviously the opponents emphasize the importance of adhering
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  to non discrimination principles.
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  And I'm like, all of this is bad.
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  It it leaves just such a bad taste in your mouth and you're like, you know, as hard as it
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  is for a black entrepreneur to get up off their given that they don't have, you know, in many
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  cases, a rich uncle that can fund their business or a relationship from a IV League MBA
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  program that would get them even access to venture capital funding.
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  It's kinda crazy that people think oh, let let's stop this group of black women from
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  empowering other black women.
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  It's it's really it it's problematic, but but here's what I wanna suggest.
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  Obviously, you guys can tell as a black one entrepreneur myself, I am pissed about this.
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  I I think it's terrible.
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  But I also think that there's some alternative approaches that we may wanna center.
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  Number 1, I think that, you know, these funds could create socioeconomic criteria for
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  eligibility, which can indirectly, support minority and women entrepreneurs You know, if
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  you were just not as wealthy as other people, you can qualify, for certain kinds of of of
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  support.
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  I also think that you know, it it may become necessary to create more broad based
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  initiatives.
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  Right?
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  So developing a program or initiative or fund that supports a range of underrepresented
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  groups while addressing the specific challenges faced by a specific demographic might be what
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  has to happen in order for people like the field is fun to not come under attack.
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  And also, I think we always have to think about partnerships and collaborations.
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  Right?
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  So partnering with organizations to create programs, that can legally navigate around the
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  constraints of this ruling is gonna be very, very important for anyone that's interested in
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  leveling the paying field, all these advocacy organizations we have out here, the National
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  Minority Supply Development Council, the national black chamber, the African American
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  chambers across the country, the bow collective.
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  There there's a lot of organizations of black and black women entrepreneurs that I think can
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  can get a can get together and collaborate to come up with a solution.
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  You know, I think that this fearless fund court decision really highlights the manipulation of
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  legal frameworks designed to prevent discrimination.
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  This ruling really presents a challenge to the tools of opportunity and advise all of us who
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  care about these issues to develop innovative approaches for how to best support
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  underrepresented women entrepreneurs.
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  And here's some other ones that I think some some variety of other resources that people can
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  tap into when it comes to sort of like grants and nonprofit organizations, I think that we
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  could look to organizations like Amber Grant, the Cartier Women's Initiative.
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  These are grants that are tailored for, women, entrepreneurs, minority entrepreneurs.
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  There's other non public organizations like digital undivided and Blackgirl Ventures.
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  Which are other organizations that provide funding and mentorship and resources
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  specifically for black women entrepreneurs when it comes to venture capital and angel
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  investors, you know, there are a few options for that.
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  So, certainly, you could look at backstage capital.
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  You could look at the Harlem Capital Partners, which is an early stage venture capital firm.
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  The invest in minority women founders.
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  There's also pipeline angels, which is an angel investing group focused on the challenges that
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  face women and and non binary fems who are interested in social entrepreneurship.
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  There's always crowdfunding as another way to get the money you need for your business or to
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  even get a customer list, ifundwomen.com is a crowning, a crowdfunding platform specifically
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  for women entrepreneurs, and they offer coaching and other resources.
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  You can always look at Kickstarter, indiegogo.
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  These are general crowdfunding campaigns that can be used to raise funds for various projects
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  or businesses.
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  Patreon is another one that allows entrepreneurs to create a subscription based
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  funding for their community and followers.
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  So that's another great way, to generate the revenue you need for your business.
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  When it comes to, micro loans and peer to peer lending, you certainly can look at any CDFI or
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  community development financial institution in your local area.
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  There's also national organizations called Kiva.
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  Kiva offers crowd funding micro loans with 0% interest for entrepreneurs around the world,
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  including black women.
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  There's also lending club and prosper, and these are peer to peer lending platforms where
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  individuals can apply for personal and business loans.
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  There's lots of other sort of like corporate and community initiatives.
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  You've got the Google Startup Black founders fund, which provides cash awards to black
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  entrepreneurs to help them build and grow their businesses.
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  Comcast Rise is another program that provides marketing media and technology resources to
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  small businesses that are owned by people of color you have the Goldman Sachs, 1,000,000
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  black women initiative, which is aimed and investing in black women entrepreneurs in the
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  community.
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  And there are many, many, many others.
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  I mean, certainly, you could look at, the Verizon small business digital ready platform.
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  Every quarter, they give away, $10,000 grant.
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  So that that's another potential opportunity to get some community, support And then there are
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  certainly pitch competitions.
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  She pitched perfect and pitch black are 2 great ones.
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  Also, you could look at tech crunch and disrupt Those are also significant pitch opportunities
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  as well.
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  And then there's just the networking and mentorship programs, and there's plenty of
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  those I have 1 Small Buslady Academy, which is a collection of a global community of women
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  entrepreneurs dedicated to living a happy life, growing a successful business, and having
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  meaningful impact in the world.
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  And we're really excited.
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  So You can check out smallbizladyacademy.com.
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  There's also black women talk tech, which is a collective of black women tech founders.
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  Who support and provide funding for each other.
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  There's also an organization called Women Who Tech, which offers grants and resources for
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  women entrepreneurs in the tech industry.
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  And then there's also, you know, lots of philanthropic, philanthropic, contributions,
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  the new voices fund which invests in companies owned by women of color was founded by, Richard
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  Richard Luedenis, who is the current owner of Essence Magazine.
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  So form formerly of, she moisture.
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  He was sold it to Unilever, and now he owns SSENSE, and and they have an investment fund.
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  There's also Sogal Foundation, which provides funding and resources for diverse entrepreneurs
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  globally.
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  And there's lots of other ones.
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  There's there's a social entrepreneurship 1.
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  So cap is another organization.
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  They have a conference.
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  They have funding.
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  And they're all about people who are interested in social entrepreneurship.
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  So here's the thing.
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  So Yeah.
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  They shut down the fearless fund, but there's lots of other ways to skin a cat.
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  There's lots of other ways to get funding and support and mentorship for your business.
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  So I just wanna encourage all of the all of you listening out here.
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  If you're a woman in color and business and you're looking for some resources please try 1
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  or 5 of the resources that I mentioned here.
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  You know, by leveraging these resources, you can find alternative funding opportunities to
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  grow and sustain your business.
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  Despite the legal challenges or the institutional roadblocks that are out here, I
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  just wanna continue to encourage you, you know, have faith.
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  Know that things always work out, especially for those who work really, really hard.
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  And and prayer is the key to activating all of what you have coming to use.
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  So just know that this fearless fund case is a disappointment but it's not a finale.
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  It's not it's one lever that's been cut off, but there's plenty of other levers out here.
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  There's plenty of other streets you can go down.
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  To get the resources that you need for your business.
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  I believe in you.
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  I believe in your business, and I wanna leave you with this.
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  You never lose in business either you win or you learn.
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  This podcast has been sponsored by Small Buslady Academy.
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  Your one shop source for women entrepreneurs who are looking for a quality community to get
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  support, knowledge, and networks to grow your small business.
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  Alright, everybody.
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  Take care.
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  Thanks for listening to the Small Biz chat podcast with Melinda Emerson.
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  Subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and join us next Wednesday for more
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  fantastic information and interviews.
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  You can find more sources and small business success strategies by visiting Melinda's
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  website succeed as your own boss dot com.
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  Thanks again for listening, and we'll see you next week.